SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic – Adonis Peguero is a well-known fighter in his small town outside Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic’s capital. The 20-year-old dreams of one day representing his home country in competition.

But because of a 2013 court ruling by the Dominican Constitutional Court that essentially stripped thousands of people without one Dominican parent of their right to citizenship, Peguero may never get the chance.

Following the ruling, Dominican President Danielo Medina ordered the creation of a registration program that allowed those born in the country but who were unregistered, as well as undocumented foreign workers, to apply for formal status. Many found it impossible to navigate the process or recover their papers. Those who missed the deadline for registration are fearful of deportation.

This has meant uncertainty for Peguero and his nine siblings, whose parents came to the Dominican Republic from Haiti years ago. All the children were born in the country. But only two of Peguero’s brothers and sisters have a Dominican birth certificate or ID; Peguero and the others do not. Without those documents, Peguero – like thousands of others – finds his life on hold.

Human rights groups like Amnesty International say that the ruling has rendered generations of Dominicans as “stateless," however, this description has been rejected by the Dominican government.