Ruptly
"Chilean President Jose Antonio Kast defended his immigration policy at a press conference this Thursday and announced new measures to tighten border control and expedite the departure of people in irregular situations from the country. After enacting the 'Desalination Law' in the commune of Caldera in northern Chile, the president assured that his government has already begun to implement some of the measures promised during his presidential campaign, highlighting deportation flights of irregular migrants, increased controls at the northern border, and a decrease in clandestine entries into the country. "The average citizen understands what we are doing. They see the planes that have left and will regularly leave with irregular immigrants. They see the border closure and that today there are far fewer clandestine entries. They see how migrants are voluntarily leaving the country and once we manage to organise everything related to migration, you will see how this starts to flow," said Kast. The president also announced that migratory expulsions prioritise people with judicial or criminal records. "Clearly, people who are in an irregular situation, some of them with orders, pending cases with justice, are the first to leave," he said. The Head of State went on to confirm that the government will promote legal and even constitutional reforms to modify the current nationality system in Chile, moving away from 'jus soli' (right of the soil) to 'jus sanguinis' (right of blood). Kast also referred to diplomatic conversations with Venezuela to facilitate the return of expelled Venezuelan citizens, asking them to leave Chile voluntarily. According to a report by the Liberty and Development study centre in Chile, from 2025 Venezuelans represent around 42 per cent of the migrant population in the country. Currently, about 1.9 million foreigners live in Chilean territory, and a large part comes from Venezuela, with about 75% of migrants in irregular situations being Venezuelans."
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