The government of Chile announced on Thursday that it will present a legislative reform to extend the detention period for irregular immigrants from five to 180 days while their expulsion from the country is processed.
President José Antonio Kast, a 60-year-old far-right lawyer, took power in March with the promise of expelling the estimated 330.000 immigrants without residence permits who live in Chile, to whom the president attributes an increase in insecurity in the country.
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In his first accountability report, Kast assured on Monday that he will seek to “strengthen migratory control, the capacity for effective expulsion, and extend the retention periods” for undocumented immigrants, currently five days.
This Thursday, the Minister of Security, Martín Arrau, specified that the government will present a bill that allows the provisional detention period for an undocumented migrant who commits a crime to “be 180 days,” in order to manage their expulsion from the country.
“Five days is completely insufficient, because afterwards those people are released and cannot be found,” explained the minister to the press, during a police operation to monitor migrants.
Arrau did not specify when this reform would be presented, in response to an AFP inquiry.
The government is also promoting a bill to make illegal entry into Chile a crime, which is currently considered only a misdemeanor.
Kast said on Monday that he will incentivize “the voluntary departure of illegal immigrants in Chile,” and promises to forgive fines and not prohibit them from returning regularly in the future.
