Overview
- The decision, confirmed Monday by Chile’s National Migration Service, stops a draft decree that would have granted status to about 182,000 people who registered after entering the country without documents.
- Migration chief Frank Sauerbaum said the government acted after learning that roughly 6,000 people in the registry had committed crimes, a claim now central to the policy shift.
- The executive plans to send two bills to Congress that would punish those who facilitate irregular entry and make crossing into Chile without authorization a criminal offense.
- President José Antonio Kast has launched a Border Shield Plan with barriers, trenches, cameras, drones, and a larger security presence at northern crossings, paired with a pledge to pursue expulsions among an estimated 337,000 irregular residents.
- Authorities will step up workplace inspections in sectors like construction and food service, with agencies including the labor directorate and police involved, while analysts warn the crackdown could push more people into informal work and strain efforts to carry out mass removals.