SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — The Dominican leader on Thursday submitted a bill to Congress that he says would create a path to naturalized citizenship for thousands of people of Haitian descent who were born in the Dominican Republic.

The proposed legislation from President Danilo Medina’s office was initially expected to be submitted to lawmakers in February but was delayed. It will first be taken up by the lower house, which is expected to create a committee to analyze the bill. It’s not clear when a vote would take place.