JIMANI, Dominican Republic -- When the earthquake leveled Port-au-Prince Jan. 12, Makila Préval was in Santo Domingo. But she did not escape unscathed. Her husband is one of the thousands of dead.

Préval, 44, arrived in this town on the Dominican Republic side of the border on Wednesday, traveling in a bus covered in dust from the arid route, carrying only her passport and a bag of provisions that she will deliver to her sister and two nephews as soon as she is able to find them in Haiti.

``I lost my husband,'' she said with resignation. ``Only God knows why He does things.''

Her case is just one among the thousands of Haitians who have decided to return to Haiti to help relatives and friends. They cross paths on the border with survivors who are trying to get into the Dominican Republic.

In the simple yet packed immigration and customs office of Jimaní, the air is more than dense and hot. It is permeated with the desperation that is readily apparent on the faces of those trying to secure permission to enter the Dominican Republic.

But for many that will prove impossible. The Dominican official in charge of immigration law, Trinidad Benítez, has been reviewing hundreds of applications over the past week. His criteria leaves no room for exceptions.

``Here only the seriously injured, students, legal workers and missionaries may get through,'' he said.

Benítez sits in a chair at one side of a makeshift receiving room to process the multitudes who clamor outside a door guarded by an armed policeman. The officer puts up with the shoving of the Haitians, most of them young people.

In the middle of the disorganization, women are less likely to receive prompt attention. Among the less favored was Alude Saide, 35, a single mother who carried daughter Davance, just 4 months old, in her arms.

The baby is dehydrated and suffering from acute, life-threatening diarrhea, according to Saide. She had submitted a medical report that confirmed her daughter's poor health, she added. But the authorities did not appear persuaded that it was absolutely true. ``She needs care,'' she said. ``We should not be seated on the floor, but attended in a hospital.''

Despite the severity of the immigration process, Dominican officials in Jimaní said that about 500 people had managed to cross the border legally. Others have tried to evade border controls by taking the dusty paths nearby.

Student Luxone Luxil, 25, said the situation is forcing many to make extreme choices.

``Many people have nothing left to lose,'' Luxil said. ``They are trying everything. Wouldn't you, to save your own skin?''

The day of the earthquake, Luxil was with friends near the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince when the ground began to shake.

On Thursday, Luxil tried to return to his neighborhood of Saint Pierre carrying a half-dozen cans, water and painkillers for neighbors.

Not everyone taking the road back to Port-au-Prince are Haitians.  Antonio Ferrer, a 52-year-old Dominican, returned Thursday to look for his young Haitian wife and their daughter. He was very lucky. ``They are fine; they are with me,'' he said as their passports were being stamped. ``We will never be apart again.''

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