Reflection on the processes of extraordinary regularization of foreigners in Chile: problem or solution?

Abstract

The general objective of the article is to reflect on the processes of extraordinary regularization of foreigners in Chile, for which it is neces­sary to describe the Chilean Migratory Regularization Processes carried out between 1998 and 2007, analyze the migratory regularization process of 2018 and explain the extraordinary regularization of the year 2021. The re­search is conducted under a qualitative methodology from a critical and analytical, hermeneutic approach, resorting primarily to secondary sourc­es. However, the results showed that regularizations in Chile have been ex­ceptional procedures for the management of migratory flows and that they have been established prior or simultaneously to a major reform of legisla­tion on foreigners, notwithstanding the effort required by a regularization process, it has not been possible to accurately estimate the size or number of the irregular population. Each requirement of the processes has been ad­justed to the migratory contingency of the moment (in the last process the people who entered through unauthorized passages were not included), in addition to the fact that it creates an important call effect of irregular for­eigners, so it is not possible to estimate the size of the irregular population.