Continuity Behind Change: From the Foreign Law to the Migration Law in Chile (2010–2023)

Abstract The article examines the trajectory of Chile’s migration governance from 2010 under Decree Law No. 1094 to the 2021 regulatory reform of Law No. 21,325. Based on the conceptualizations of Mahoney and Thelen (2010) we argue that institutional change did not stem from a critical juncture but from a cumulative process of incremental adjustments. Through a case study—combining analysis of legislative documents, decrees, circulars, and interviews with key stakeholders, it is demonstrated how the persistent veto power exercised by the executive and the legislature, the broad administrative discretion in migration management, and the interests of successive administrations, together with the sustained increase in Chile’s foreign-born population, fostered institutional change through layering. The result is a new law that, although it incorporates a human-rights and integration perspective, reinforces control and security, maintaining a securitized logic.