Chile Deploys Military On Border Points To Halt Migrants' Entry

On Monday, Chile began a military deployment on the northern border with Peru and Bolivia for 90 days to counteract the entry of undocumented migrants.

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"Chile has long failed to do what it must to have good immigration control," Interior Minister Carola Toha said, recalling that customs officers had little equipment, the checkpoints of border police officers were in terrible condition, and the national migrant service presented an enormous waiting list when President Gabriel Boric took office.

"The Boric administration's policies are constantly revisited. Placing the armed forces in the border crossings has proven to be the most efficient initiative to counter the immigration problem," Government Secretary Camila Vallejo claimed.

The military deployment empowers soldiers to control identity, check luggage and even detain people suspected of irregularly entering Chile through the border crossings in the Arica, Parinacota, Antofagasta, and Tarapaca regions.

In Chile, there are currently over 1.4 million migrants, who represent about 7 percent of the population. Most migrants come from Venezuela, Peru, Haiti, and Colombia. Until 2022, they usually enter Chile by regular roads.

Last year, however, dozens of migrants died while attempting to reach Chile through dangerous alternative routes like the Altiplano, a mountainous area that experiences high temperatures during the day and 0º Celsius at night.

"Our country urgently needs to modify its migration system, which puts so many obstacles to undocumented migrants that encourages them to enter irregularly to the country,” Antofagasta region governor Ricardo Diaz stated.