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A key day was lived this Tuesday in the Senate room within the framework of the debate on the project that modernizes the country’s immigration policy.
This after the parliamentarians rejected an indication promoted by senators Juan Ignacio Latorre (RD) and his counterpart Isabel Allende (PS), which created a new migratory category for foreigners to request a work visa when arriving in Chile. Said amendment was classified by the ruling party as a “labor tourism” visa, rejecting its implementation.
In fact, during this Monday and Tuesday the government came out repeatedly to refer to this immigration debate, rejecting this indication and another, also promoted by the opposition, which proposes an extraordinary regulation of migrants who are irregularly in the country. Which, according to the Executive, produced a “pull effect” that increased clandestine income to the country from the north.
The vote on the controversial article on the so-called “work tourism visa” – which was given separately at the request of UDI senator Luz Ebensperguer – did not achieve consensus in the opposition. And this was reflected in the final result where the indication was rejected by 16 in favor, 25 against and 0 abstentions.
Six opposition parliamentarians did not support the amendment, three of them represent northern regions of the country that have been affected by the increase in illegal income: Jorge Soria (PPD-Tarapacá), Pedro Araya (IND.-Antofagasta) and Alejandro Guillier (IND.-Antofagasta). Meanwhile, José Miguel Insulza (PS-Arica) approved the indication.
On September 9, the Senate had approved an article that created the consular visa for job opportunities, which allows foreigners can apply to the Chilean consulates abroad for a temporary residence permit. Article that was seen as an “intermediate solution” by the opposition to the controversial amendment promoted by Allende and Latorre.
In fact, this point was highlighted by the undersecretary of the Interior, Juan Francisco Galli, who was present at the discussion. “The objective that those people who come to seek opportunities in our country have a regular way to do so. And that is in article 70 number 5 of the bill that has already been approved ”, he indicated.
On the other hand, the Senate also approved Article 58 by 39 votes in favor and two against, which establishes that “holders of a temporary residence permit who are in the country may not apply for a residence permit, unless they comply with the requirements established in article 69 ”.
Undersecretary Galli valued the result regarding the controversial amendment of “labor tourism” and requested the same with the one proposing an extraordinary regularization of illegal migrants in Chile.
“Assess that in the Senate we have managed to convince the vast majority of senators of the inconvenience of the indication that had been approved in the Finance Committee,” said the undersecretary.
To add that “we hope that in the rest of the discussion in the Senate an indication such as the eighth transitory one that allows or gives the signals that we believe is incorrect will also be rejected, which has given the feeling that there is going to be a window of opportunity. to be able to regularize the migratory situation in Chile for all those who enter up to 90 days after the bill is approved ”.
The Minister of Foreign Relations, Andrés Allamand, for his part, assured that “it is very important that the Senate has rejected the work tourism visa proposed by some members of the opposition. With this formula, people embarked as tourists, but when they arrived in the country they asked for a work visa. In the future, work visas will have to be granted by the Foreign Ministry abroad. It is a very important step for an orderly and regular migration ”.
The discussion was mainly centered on criticism from the opposition regarding the language used by the government in recent days on the matter. While the ruling party questioned the regulations and that promoted uncontrolled migration.
Senator Ximena Rincón (DC), affirmed that “I understand that it is in the hands of the one who governs, of the Executive on duty, to set the conditions under which entry permits are established. We have conveyed to public opinion a feeling that It does not correspond (…) But without a doubt, pointing out that we are encouraging them to arrive with our statements, when the President himself has spoken and established figures that have caused a great migration in our country, calls at least to be just with the words and measure them ”.
His counterpart from the UDI, Iván Moreira assured that “the State has the right to decide who enters, what enters and for how long.” To add that “we are for migration, but not for any kind or at any cost or at any cost. any price”.
His benchmate Juan Antonio Coloma stated that “here two concepts are violated. First, it is enough for a person to enter a Chilean border crossing to say ‘I want to look for a job opportunity and unless there is a country that has one exceptional situation, there is an obligation to give you a visa. That seems to me an unthinkable question. I understand the right to migrate, but I do not understand the right to receive migration without any State logic. And the second, without an identification document of the country from which it receives the migration, that is to say without rut ”.
Isabel Allende (PS), promoter of the indication, declared, meanwhile, that “it is striking that when we had resumed the conversation on this complex and necessary issue, such as having a migration law that effectively manages to generate an orderly migration and regular, the communication offensive on the part of the government in recent days draws attention, which is focused in general against migration ”.
And his peer from the PPD, Ricardo Lagos, assured that this was a complex issue, especially “when a sector and I understand it from a political point of view, but I do not share it and condemn it, and I understand it from the basic, simple logic , almost ordinary politics, which is to say ‘here I have an angle that must be exploited politically because it will pay off’ and what is it: xenophobia, racism, scare abroad, crime comes. And that was done with all his lyrics, twice the former candidate Sebastián Piñera ”.
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