SANTIAGO ( Associated Press) — Chile’s President Gabriel Boric’s government will send a bill to Congress to amend immigration law and facilitate the expulsion of foreigners who have committed crimes in the South American country, said Interior Minister Izquia Siches.
Siches made the announcement during a visit to the small Aymara-majority city of Colchén on the border with Bolivia and northern Chile, which in recent years has received a strong wave of migrants who cross the porous borders of the Atacama Desert and travel irregularly. enter from. Steps are not enabled. According to officials, the rate of murder, dacoity and other crimes in that region, like the rest of the country, has also skyrocketed.
The minister also pointed out that a decree would be issued that allowed the participation of the armed forces in border control, which, he explained, would “guarantee orderly migration” and to combat organized crime in that region.
“Those who come to our country to commit crimes, we are going to persecute, prosecute and expel them from Chile,” he warned. He said this would be the bill that would be sent to Congress and that it also seeks to “simplify” the expulsion of migrants who enter irregularly. He did not specify a date when the initiative would be dispatched.
There is a law currently approved in the previous government of Sebastian Pinera (2018-2022) which, according to Minister Siches, complicates eviction procedures and whose “bureaucratic” investigations impede the “operations” of police stationed in the area. and check.
“Migration to Chile should be done by regular and authorized steps,” he emphasized.
He indicated that these declarations have been added to the declarations that were made earlier to tackle crime and organized crime. He said more than 5,700 million pesos (over $6 million) would be invested for more sophisticated technology and equipment, which would strengthen investigations on the northern border.
