The harshness of Chile’s new immigration law sparks an avalanche of consultations

SANTIAGO, Chile.- The enactment of the new law on migration, which makes it difficult for foreigners to settle in and accelerates administrative expulsions of those who do not respect the norm, triggered in Chile an avalanche of investigations on the part of immigrants, in particular Venezuelans, who seek to regularize their situation.

Last Sunday, President Sebastián Piñera promulgated the new immigration law, What replaces the Immigration Law of 1975, and that requires that Those who want to settle in Chile must first apply for their visa at the consulates of their country, and validate their criminal record, a difficult procedure in the case of Venezuela.

The new law will also facilitate administrative expulsions of foreigners who try to enter “illegally, without respecting our laws,” Piñera explained.

This morning, a long line of migrants had formed on one side of Santiago Cathedral, according to the newspaper. The third who sought to regularize their immigration status.

According to the riflemen, in the morning they were detained 22 people for not having a travel permit corresponding to the quarantine (violation of article 318).

“Unfortunately, we have detected that once again, false information circulated on social networks affecting migrants pending settlement, and we saw it that way when several people went in person to look for this alternative ”, declared Rodrigo Delgado, Minister of the Interior, in the afternoon.

According to a preliminary report by the Carabineros, the detainees correspond to people without travel permits. In the afternoon, the Minister of the Interior, Rodrigo Delgado, clarified: “Indeed, there will be a regularization process for people who entered Chile through an authorized passage before March 18, 2020, but this process will be digital, and it will be announced in the coming days“.

“In order to who entered after March 18, 2020, the alternative will be leave the country and apply for a visa at a consulate to enter Chile. We will have all this information available in the coming days, so that all people who fall into this category can safely and regularly opt for this regularization, ”concluded Delgado.

The mayor of Santiago, Felipe Alessandri, considered that in the Chilean capital “the phenomenon of migration is here to stay, but we want it to be in an orderly fashion. Added that “A large number of migrants come to make their contribution to the country, but it must be done in an orderly and regulated manner, which, with the law of 1975, was not fully respected. For it there was this stress in the neighborhoods and on several occasions this nascent xenophobia, ”he declared..

“To have 300,000 migrants living in the municipality, the majority in a regular situation and they are a contribution. But we also have a figure similar to the 20% which is irregular in shape, that we still achieved them with boxes of food and vaccines. We want that with the new law, they can be regularized, ”concluded Alessandri.

In January, more than 3,800 Venezuelans attempted to enter on foot from Bolivia to Chile, mainly through the Colchane border post, at an altitude of more than 3,500 meters, supporting the harsh climate of the highlands and the hostility of the inhabitants of the region.

Four migrants died in their attempt to reach Chile, 87 others were expelled and sent back to their countries, while the Piñera government reinforced border protection with the army, which reduced the arrival of foreigners and unleashed criticism of human organizations. rights.

“People who come from Venezuela, who are experiencing a humanitarian crisis in their country, must be considered as an object of protection, even more with the health crisis caused by Covid-19, which keeps the borders closed, ”said Waleska Ureta, national director of the Jesuit Migrant Service (SJM).

Since 2014, some 500,000 Venezuelans living in Chile escape the political crisis in their country and become the largest foreign colony.

In 2018, the Piñera government implemented a democratic accountability visa for Venezuelans who wish to settle legally, but only 27% of applications were approved.

THE NATION