The presidential candidate and leader of the far-right Republican Party, José Antonio Kast, said that the more than 330,000 migrants who remain in Chile irregularly "have 128 days to leave" voluntarily or "will be sought out and there will be sanctions".
"There are 128 days left for a new government to take office, 133 days is what irregular migrants have to leave and leave our country. If they do not do so voluntarily, we will look for them and there will be sanctions," he announced at a press conference in the capital.
The lawyer and former deputy, whom polls place in second place for the November 16 presidential election, presented his 'Border Shield' plan to secure the borders and said he will "make available" planes for migrants who wish to voluntarily leave Chile and return to their countries.
"For every person we have to go look for, we hope that at least five will have left before," he added.
According to the National Statistics Institute (INE), 1.6 million migrants live in Chile, of whom Venezuelans, Peruvians, and Colombians are the most numerous.
Migration has doubled since 2017 and currently represents more than 8% of the population, according to the INE, which estimates that more than 330,000 migrants are in an irregular situation.
The government has recognized that no one knows where these migrants are and that is why it is very difficult to carry out deportation orders.
The increase in crime and irregular migration are, along with the economy, the main concerns of Chileans, and Kast has based his campaign on this.
The far-right also announced that, if he comes to power, he will build "refuge centers" for migrants who have not left and cannot be expelled to their countries of origin because these countries do not accept them, as is the case with Venezuela, with which Chile has only limited relations.
"Today there are a couple of planes in Chile that can be used and there will be alternatives for these people," he indicated, without giving further details.
The far-right, who is running for the third time to reach La Moneda and who lost to President Gabriel Boric in 2021, did not specify the cost of these flights and assured that a hard line on migration generates an "exit effect".
"There will be refuge centers where these people will be until the respective government sends a plane to take their compatriots back to their homeland," he assured.
Chile will hold presidential and parliamentary elections on November 16, and all polls indicate that none of the candidates will win the presidency in the first round.
"First, we must appeal to the willingness of people who want to leave with all their belongings and resources (...) If they want, they can help pay for their return ticket, along with the availability of planes that we will provide," he emphasized.
"A clear example is the United States. The detention of 500,000 people there caused 1.5 million people to leave the country voluntarily," Kast stated.
