SÃO PAULO, Brazil – Members of ecclesial movements that assist immigrants in Chile have been campaigning against a bill introduced by President José Antonio Kast’s administration requiring schools and hospitals to report undocumented migrants.

The measure was introduced as an amendment to a reform of the administrative deportation system. Under the proposal, public and private providers of education, social security, and healthcare would be required to report to the National Migration Service information about undocumented migrants who sought their services.

Chile’s Latin American and Caribbean Ecclesial Network on Migration, Displacement, Refuge and Human Trafficking (known as Red Clamor) released a letter on May 18 criticizing the initiative. The document was published by BioBioChile, a major news website.

The letter was signed by Bishop Moisés Atisha of the Diocese of San Marcos de Arica (who oversees Red Clamor Chile), Sister Gabriela Herrera (Red Clamor’s executive secretary), Father Pablo Walker (chaplain of the Jesuit Migrant Service), and Barbara Etcheberry (director of Fundación Soymás, a nongovernmental organization). Another 160 individuals and institutions co-signed the document.

The letter begins with a question regarding the administration’s proposal.

“Are we willing, as a society, to turn places where life is cared for into places where people are denounced?” the document asked.

The authors argued that encouraging a “culture of denunciation” in basic healthcare services not only goes against Chilean legislation, but also “obstructs access to essential human needs that are fundamental to social peace.”

“Making a mother afraid to vaccinate her children or send them to school, or causing a sick person to prefer suffering alone rather than going to a clinic out of fear, can lead our society into profound deterioration,” the letter continued.

The state has the duty to regulate migration policy, but “there is a difference between regulating and dehumanizing,” the signatories continued.

“Human dignity cannot be conditioned on possessing valid documents. We urge the authorities to reconsider these measures, seeking paths toward order that do not sacrifice this principle, while especially protecting the rights of children, which must prevail over any punitive logic,” the letter concluded.

Atisha emphasized that “healthcare issues affect everybody, not only immigrants.”

“If this amendment is approved, not only undocumented immigrants would be impacted, but also the local population. If a person has an infection and doesn’t go to a clinic out of fear, he or she becomes a source of contagion for the broader population,” the bishop told Crux Now, adding that the same applies to vaccination campaigns.

According to Walker, the measure would be unconstitutional, given that Chile’s Constitution establishes that access to education and healthcare must be free and equal.

“With regard to education, it could lead to school absenteeism, harm social coexistence, and potentially undermine the sustainability of schools that depend on attendance for their funding,” the priest told Crux Now.

He said other immigration-related bills are advancing, including a proposal to criminalize unauthorized entry through unofficial border crossings.

“This would place an immense burden on the police and the courts, which we believe should be focused on combating organized crime – which profits, for example, from the poorly managed, unsafe, and irregular handling of migration – rather than targeting people who have committed an administrative violation,” Walker said.

Undocumented migrants often “had no possibility of obtaining the required documentation or were subjected to urgent circumstances related to the right to seek refuge,” he added.

After four years of a left-wing administration led by former President Gabriel Boric (2022-2026), Chileans elected the conservative Kast, whose platform focused on issues such as public security and immigration.

His father was a German soldier during World War II who was affiliated with the Nazi Party, and his brother Miguel served as a minister and president of the Central Bank during Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship (1973-1990).

Although he is a fervent Catholic, Kast clashed with a few members of the Church during his presidential campaign over his attacks on immigrants. He pledged to expel the 300,000 undocumented immigrants living in Chile “from day one.”

Earlier in May, the government said 1,400 immigrants had voluntarily left Chile. According to the newspaper La Tercera, 395 migrants were expelled between March 11 and May 18. Most of them were from Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia, and Haiti.

Walker said Red Clamor and other ecclesial organizations that work with migrants “are not part of the opposition to the current administration.”

“We simply want to offer a service of clarity based on what we have learned on the ground, by listening to our migrant brothers and sisters and to the pain caused by difficult integration and the complex challenges of daily coexistence within Chilean society,” he said.

Atisha said the government has been in dialogue with Venezuela in order to resume diplomatic relations. Only then, he said, will Kast’s administration be able to deport undocumented Venezuelan migrants.

“We sense an atmosphere of tension among immigrants nowadays. And the number of people trying to enter Chile has fallen,” the bishop said.

Walker said the Chilean episcopate has strongly supported Red Clamor’s initiative.

“We are also engaged in broad dialogue with civil society as a whole, academia, the business sector, grassroots organizations, and state institutions themselves,” Walker added.