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I will study the role that the representation of linguistic differences between Haiti and the Dominican Republic played in the Dominican state's plan for remapping and controlling the border region during the 1930s and 1940s. Based on a corpus of philological texts representative of discourse on language and Haitian-Dominican relations, I will analyze the linguistic generalizations that serve to emphasize differences between Dominicans and Haitians, particularly in the border region. Special attention will be given to the institutional aspects that link these texts to their wider social context. Analyzing these texts in their social and political contexts will provide a critical understanding of how the prevalent ideas regarding linguistic practices along the border were first conceived and advanced. My work sheds light on the interdependence of the two countries and challenges some of the most basic sociolinguistic presuppositions of the status quo.