Contemporary Migration Policies in Chile: The Voices of Public Officials, International Agents and Migrant Collective Representatives

In recent decades, South American migration within and towards Latin America has grown substantially. In Chile, per of icial data over 1,6 million foreign nationals were residing in the country in 2023, almost equally divided between genders and mainly located in the Metropolitan Region of Santiago de Chile, with Venezuelans predominating. The present study consists of a qualitative analysis of policy narratives based on interviews to migration-related policymakers, representatives of international organizations and migrant collectivity spokesmen in Chile. It aims at analysing their convergent or divergent understandings of the progress of present migration policies and associated state capacities. Three main framings are identified. The first could be defined as technocratic, centered on producing evidence and implementing the objectives of general or specific policies. The second takes into account migrants’ subjective experience and shows the concrete problems they face daily. The last emphasises the contemporary humanitarian crisis migrants are experiencing and the discriminatory reactions of the host country. It entails a radical change in national security. These visions do not necessarily exclude each other; they are sometimes interconnected and complementary. However, the predominance of one or other framing shows the extent of migrants' social integration in any society. Maybe, some of these patterns are useful to analyse migration policy in other Latinamerican countries.