MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Chilean President says only legal migrants may stay

The government has sent bills to Congress to speed up the expulsion of illegal migrants, Boric explained

Chile's President Gabriel Boric Font Thursday underlined that in his country there were no privileges and therefore foreign residents will have to either regularize their migration status or leave.

Boric added that “if they have committed a crime, they need to leave.” The head of state also admitted it was necessary to “offer alternatives to those who are in an irregular situation” but in the end “no one here is going to be above the law.

”In case there are children, we have to guarantee that they have access to education; in the case of Social Development, the shelters today are full in Antofagasta,” Boric also underlined.

Irregular migration was not a new phenomenon in Chile, but from 2010 to July 2021 the number has multiplied by 57, from 415 to more than 23,000 people, mostly Venezuelans, according to the Jesuit Migrant Service (SJM).

Boric Friday insisted in a radio interview that his administration will act like “dogs” against those who commit crimes associated with drug trafficking and recalled that the ruling coalition has submitted to Congress two bills this week addressing the issue.

The President explained that expelling illegal migrants who enter “through an irregular passage and is in an irregular condition in Chile” there must be a court procedure. “This is not an arbitrary decision of the government, but the Judiciary” gets involved

“Then the person must be notified that the expulsion procedure is initiated. However, as they have no known address, they cannot notify them and the procedure is not initiated,” he added.

Under the new bill, people can be deemed notified through a registered letter or an email. Five days after that, “the person is considered to have been notified,” thus allowing the expulsion procedure to start.

“Secondly, we have expedited the expulsion procedure that already exists for those who have been convicted under the drug law. We are not going to allow drug trafficking to continue here,” Boric also argued.

According to Boric, “here we have to give very clear and firm signals, so effectively security is a priority issue in Antofagasta and I instructed the presidential delegate that we will be seeing to it happening.”