Migration policies and norms in chile, 1975 to the present: National Versus Human Security

A discussion of Chilean migration policies is merited for several reasons. International migration to Chile has grown exponentially recently, giving rise to social discrimination against migrants and restrictive regularization processes for undocumented migrants. The state needs to adequate its institutions, norms, and infrastructures to absorb the new migration flows. The study analyses migration policies in Chile in three periods: General Pinochet’s dictatorship (the law of 1975), the amendments to the law made during the democratic governments that followed, and the policy that has been implemented since 2022. It is a qualitative study that reviews specialized bibliography and secondary data from institutions related to migration, comments critically on a relevant report on the latest law and develops a content analysis of legal documents and presidential instructions on migration in terms of a mission-oriented model. The study finds that the aims of the migration law and policy are fragmented and to contradictions between policy formulation and practice. This has produced new social conflicts, a lack of state leadership and legitimacy with regard to migration (because horizontal and vertical coordination between agencies is limited), polarized social opinions, and non-inclusive public engagement, all of which have negative effects upon migrants’ integration, welfare, and rights.