‘Big crisis’: Kast’s immigration agenda brings uncertainty to Chile’s north | Migration News

Fears of growing crime

For immigrants fleeing violence and crises in other parts of South America, Chile symbolises relative prosperity.

The country is considered among the safest in Latin America, and its gross domestic product (GDP) is among the region’s top five.

But during his presidential campaign, Kast harnessed fears of growing instability in Chile, which has seen spikes in violent crime in recent years.

Kidnappings, while rare, rose by 135 percent between 2015 and 2025, according to a security report from OSAC, a partnership led by the State Department in the United States.

And homicides reached a peak in 2022 following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, with 1,330 victims reported out of a population of nearly 20 million. That number has since declined.

Still, Kast and his supporters credited the upswing to a parallel increase in irregular migration.

“Thousands of foreigners enter illegally without control or identification. Many of them bring violence, weapons and criminal networks,” Kast wrote as part of his campaign platform.

An estimated 336,984 foreigners live in Chile without legal paperwork, according to the country’s government. The majority, some 252,591, come from Venezuela, which has experienced economic collapse and political repression in recent years.

The influx has coincided with the expansion of transnational criminal networks like Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua, which has gained a foothold in Arica y Parinacota.

Still, studies have repeatedly shown that, overall, foreigners in Chile are typically less likely than native-born citizens to be arrested or indicted.