The archbishop said that the frequent news and visuals of the drama experienced by our neighboring brothers and sisters in the Dominican Republic and Haiti, who risk their lives on their journey to our lands, are painful to see.

In a pastoral letter, the prelate wrote that “the groan that reaches God challenges us to humanize immigration laws: no more dead, abandoned, deceived and traumatized immigrants.”

He said that on Tuesday of last week more than a hundred human beings were abandoned to their fate on the deserted Mona Island, between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.

It involved 104 people, including 68 women, three of whom are pregnant, eight minors, 39 Haitian men and two Dominicans.

He recalled that on July 28, five Haitian women lost their lives while traveling on a boat near the Desecheo islet, in western Puerto Rico, while on May 12 another 11 Haitian women also died in similar situations.

“These Dominican and Haitian brothers and sisters are primarily victims of criminal organizations and smugglers who are dedicated to exposing human lives on dangerous journeys and inadequate and overloaded vessels,” Gonzalez Nieves said.

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