The Chilean foreign minister, Alberto van Klaveren, lamented this Monday that “a group of criminals” endangers the permanence of the country in the United States Visa Waiver Program, known as Visa Waiver and which it entered in 2014.
“It is extremely unfortunate that a group of criminal Chileans endanger a program as attractive as the Visa Waiver”, said the Secretary of State in an interview on the local Radio Infinita.
Chile is the only country in Latin America that is part of the program, which allows you to enter the United States for tourism, business or transit and stay a maximum of 90 days without carrying a visa but with an electronic travel authorization.
According to the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service, of the countries that belong to the program, Chile is the one that registered the highest number of deportees in 2022.
Last year, according to the North American organization, a total of 553 Chileans were deported, which represents an increase of 119.4% compared to 2021.
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“The truth is that (increased deportations) is obviously a complication. It is something that we are very sorry for and we hope that through this intensified cooperation that we are materializing we can avoid any risk to this program.added Van Klaveren.
In mid-May, the Orange County (California) prosecutor, Todd Spitzer, accused Chile of refusing to provide information about twenty Chileans who were detained in the United States and who entered the country using this type of visa.
“Defendants from Chile have raised an exceptionally frustrating challenge because the Chilean Government has refused to provide us with the criminal records of Chilean citizens using the Program to enter the United States“said the prosecutor.
The Chilean Foreign Ministry refuted the prosecutor and assured that there is coordination “permanent” between prosecutors and police from both countries.
Hours before, the US embassy in Chile, Bernadette Meehan, claimed to be “confident” in which the southern country will continue to belong to the program, although it was “concerned” by the Chilean thieves gangs “who abuse the Visa Waiver program”.
Source: EFE
Source: Gestion
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