Kast deploys the Army and will build kilometer-long ditches on the border of Chile with Peru to stop immigration

He has not been president of Chile for even a week and the far right José Antonio Kast has already given the green light to the construction of a kilometer ditch on the border with Peru and Bolivia to combat irregular immigration, organized crime and drug trafficking.

“From today we begin to stop this irregular immigration that in recent years brought more than 180,000 people to Chile“, said Kast from the Chilean region of Arica and Panicota, on the northern border with Peru and Bolivia.

“We want to use the backhoes to build a sovereign Chile. That sovereign Chile that has been violated by illegal immigration, by drug trafficking, by organized crime,” he added.

As part of Kast’s anti-immigration plan, the leader has indicated that “many kilometers” of the border will be blocked with the construction of a large trench, which has already begun to be excavated this Monday.

In 90 days the ditch will have an extension of 30 kilometers, according to official information.

The Minister of the Interior and Public Security, Claudio Alvaradohas assured that the Kast Government plans go from the current three kilometers of ditch to more than 30,000 “in the first phase.”

To achieve this, the number of personnel dedicated to this construction has been “practically” doubled.

The ultra-Catholic leader, who took office last week, explained that “it is not just a ditch,” but that it is a “comprehensive system” that includes “physical, technological, and human barriers” and that “also requires work with other nations.”

“This is just the beginning. There will be many kilometers that will be blocked,” said Kast, who has declared himself an admirer of the American’s anti-immigration policies. Donald Trumpas well as the prison and security policies of the Salvadoran, Nayib Bukele.

According to Kast, the “cost” for Chile of irregular immigration is “a health that was surpassed”“children who have not had the possibility of having an education because there is no space” or the impossibility “of accessing their own home or renting or buying a house at a reasonable value.”

The Migration has doubled since 2017 and currently represents more than 8% of the population, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE), which estimates more 330,000 migrants who are in an irregular situation, mostly Venezuelans.

According to official figures, irregular entries on the northern border decreased by 54% last year compared to the historical maximum in 2021, when 56,000 cases were registered.