Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (CNN) -- A proposed regulation in the Dominican Republic could stop illegal immigrants from studying in the nation's public schools. Immigration officials say requiring students to have valid identification documents is part of the nation's sovereign right. But immigrant advocates have criticized the move, which is likely to affect a large number of immigrants from neighboring Haiti. "We recognize that there is a human drama, a social drama impacting the Dominican Republic in terms of migration that particularly affects the case of our Haitian neighbors. And obviously Dominican society needs to approach it responsibly," said Jose Ricardo Taveras, the Dominican Republic's general director of migration.
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Dominican officials say immigration regulations are the country's sovereign right
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Immigrant advocates have criticized the move
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It is likely to affect a large number of immigrants from neighboring Haiti
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"We are not trying to violate (rights), but rather regulate," one official says
Dominicans recall how they were under @placeholder rule for a period in the mid-1800s, and how they repeatedly fought Haitian aggressions.