ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 4, 2025 / 07:00 am
Chileans are preparing to go to the polls once again to elect their president. Following the general elections, two candidates will be vying to replace the current president, Gabriel Boric: Jeannette Jara, a former government official, and the opposition candidate José Antonio Kast of the Republican Party.
In a climate marked by insecurity, rising crime rates, and the migration crisis, citizens are closely watching the proposals of both candidates to address these problems.
The archbishop of Concepción, Sergio Pérez de Arce, addressed the debate over the situation of immigrants without legal status in the country in a column titled “It’s Either ‘You Leave or We Expel You’?” in which he maintains that migration policy cannot be reduced to these two options.
The question that titles his column refers to the warning that candidate José Antonio Kast gave to immigrants who are residing illegally in Chile, whom he assured that they have “100 days” to each make “the appropriate decision and leave our country” before being expelled, a measure he will implement if he takes office as president on March 11, 2026.
Jara, the Communist Party candidate, adopted the idea of the liberal Franco Parisi — a candidate in the first round of elections for president — to address the problem of illegal immigration by means of a proposal “very focused on technological control of the border” and proposes “creating a digital wall” with tools such as biometric control.
Regarding Kast’s countdown for immigrants to leave the country, she considers it “a campaign stunt.”
In recent weeks, Peru, which lies on Chile’s northern border, has strengthened border control there by deploying military forces, resulting in nearly a hundred migrants being stranded in northern Chile.
In response, the archbishop of Concepción stated that “the response to migrants in an irregular situation [not legally present] in the country cannot be simply ‘you leave now, voluntarily, or we will expel you with nothing but the clothes on your back’ in 100 days.”
“There are foreigners who have been in Chile for years, who work and contribute to the country, who have family and emotional ties here, and who even have children born in Chile (who are therefore Chilean citizens). Many of them have wanted to regularize their situation, but they have been given almost no alternatives,” he lamented.
“On the other hand, leaving Chile today means exposing oneself only to uncertainty, since neighboring countries are closing their borders, Venezuela is still in a political and social crisis, and is also in conflict with the United States. It means exposing people and families to new, painful, and unsafe displacement,” he warned.
“Can Chilean society offer as the only solution: ‘Either you leave or we’ll kick you out’? Can politics be reduced solely to threats and a punitive response to human realities [in such precarious situations]?” he asked.
“It’s not humane, it’s not rational, it is not in keeping with the Gospel. It’s not the best policy. There are other paths to explore that are more in line with human dignity. That is what is expected of governments and presidential candidates,” he asserted.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
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Immigration policy does not need to be unnecessarily complicated. Leaving voluntarily or being expelled are two appropriate and necessary options to address the issue. A sovereign government has the right and responsibility to enact and enforce immigration legislation, whether or not that is convenient for the immigrants in question. The other “option,” some form of amnesty, is inappropriate because that approach ultimately rewards and reinforces illegal behavior. Behavior has consequences, and it is not the government’s responsibility to shield people from the consequences of their behavior.
A sovereign nation has that right indeed but a Christian nation also shows charity. There’s a balance.
We don’t have to become rigid immigration enforcers in the same way some became rigid Covid lockdown enforcers. Neither one is a good look.
Balance equates to amnesty. You’re ultimately arguing that exceptions should be made for illegal behavior. I disagree. Our immigration policies have been lax for far too long. Being strict and rigid is the appropriate correction given our current circumstances.
I agree, balance can involve amnesty. It can also involve strict enforcement of deportation for gang members, sex offenders, and drug traffickers. They’ve found quite a few of those recently in Florida.
Given the option to self deport with a stipend was pretty charitable. Then they had the opportunity to reapply and immigrate in a legal manner.
The Holy Father has explicitly stated that a country has every right to secure its own borders. How that is done is NOT the purview of any bishop anywhere. In the case of Catholics, it is up to lay Catholic men and women to implement its border policies.
In addition, I wonder why CNS is intruding on matters of Chilean politics. Is CNS an international group?
Yes, it can.
‘You leave or we’ll kick you out’ can’t be only answer for migrants, Chilean archbishop says
Actually that’s the only answer for ILLEGAL INVADERS.
The Bishop is living in a dream world. The last two weeks in our country we have had two National Guardsmen shot, one killed and the other critical, within steps of the Whitehouse by an illegal. And another immigrant threaten a bombing in Texas who was fortunately arrested before he could act. Then the news explodes that a network of Somali immigrants (some illegal) have defrauded the American taxpayer of potentially an astounding 2 BILLION dollars, with the chance of worse fraud to come. This does not address those illegals who have sex/drug trafficked, raped and murdered their way through our nation. Nor those fraudulently “licensed” to drive mammoth 18 wheelers who have no knowledge of English and have killed multiple Americans on the road.
Yes, we CAN just kick them out and the sooner the better. The Bishops need to wake up to reality. We also need to wake up those still uninformed or unhinged enough to vote for the democrats who resolutely support these atrocities in the belief they are “anti-Trump”.
Yeah. “Affordability” is important. Not as important as you or someone you love not being murdered by an illegal who has no business being here. Vote accordingly.