Haitians in Chile: Immigration Legislation in Democracies of the Global South

• In Event: Global Cultural Criminology

Abstract

The republic of Chile is a relatively new democracy that still struggles with the geopolitical interventions of the United States and the sociocultural legacy of 17 years of authoritarianism under Augusto Pinochet’s regime. In addition, over the course of the past two decades Chile has experienced an influx of Haitian immigrants seeking new opportunities including long-term residency within Chilean borders. As witnessed across many Countries, the influx of immigrants has elicited a variety of responses among the people of Chile including the political spectrum to address the impending need for a revision in its immigration policies. Given the sociocultural legacy of authoritarianism, immigration legislation has not been revisited since the dictatorship or Pinochet. This study aims to present and explore this topic as a starting point for a much-needed conversation on immigration and ethnicities in states that are often ignored or marginalized in the literature in general and in discussions in the Global North.

Author

• Rossana A. Diaz, Eastern Kentucky University