In Chile, the Jesuit Service to Migrants (SJM) Director Waleska Ureta denounced President Sebastian Piñera's government for illegally deporting a group of 30 migrants with no criminal record to Venezuela.
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On Saturday morning, the Investigation Police (PDI) took them out from their homes and jobs and carry them to its headquarters, where they are gathered for deportation.
"Let us not normalize this undignified act of collectively deporting people who deserve fair trials and dignified treatment," said Ureta.
Chile's Ombudsman for Children Patricia Muñoz stated these actions divide migrant families and violate the migrant children's rights.
This is not the first incident of its kind since March 2020 when the new Migration Law was passed. Weekend deportations have become a regular practice of the PDI, which takes advantage of the Courts of Appeals' holiday for carrying out illegal deportations, depriving migrants of due process.
Besides denouncing this practice, the National Human Rights Institute (INDH) filed protection actions on behalf of four migrants from this group.
Interior Minister Rodrigo Delgado denied any accusation of group deportation and rather masked the act under the label of "administrative deportation."