The government of Chilean President José Antonio Kast carried out on Thursday (16) the first flight to expel foreign citizens in an irregular situation or with a criminal record, as part of the immigration control plan promised during the campaign, according to authorities.
The Undersecretary of the Interior, Máximo Pávez, told journalists that a flight left the city of Iquique, in the north of the country, this morning, with 40 foreigners on board, bound for Bolivia, Colombia and Ecuador.
“This flight, which is the first of many, is part of a commitment and an immigration regulation plan that we have been working on since the current government took office on March 11,” he stated.
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“As we have already said, expulsions are not announced, they are carried out and, from now on, we will intensify these measures through planning,” he added.
According to an official statement, of the 40 expulsions, 25 were motivated by administrative reasons and 15 by court orders. Those affected would have committed crimes such as robbery with intimidation or violence, as well as drug law violations, among others.
During the campaign, Kast promised to curb illegal immigration, linking it to rising crime, and stated that people in an irregular situation should leave the country voluntarily or risk expulsion.
The director of the National Migration Service, Frank Sauerbaum, said that since Kast’s victory in the presidential election, 2,180 Venezuelans have left the country voluntarily.
