Chilean government rules out that visa exemption program with the US is “at risk”

The Chilean Undersecretary of the Interior, Manuel Monsalve, ruled out this Monday that the visa exemption program in the United States, known as Visa Waiver, is “at risk” and asked “remove it from the contingent political discussion linked to electoral interests”.

After the issue was once again on the agenda in recent weeks, Monsalve recalled in a press release that since July 2023, people with police or criminal records have not traveled from Chilean airports because the United States already has this information.

However, he explained that the Chilean Investigative Police (PDI) recorded that of 52 people who have been detained in the United States, “at least 30, or 60%, entered before the July 2023 agreement or entered the United States from countries other than Chile”.

Another possibility that the police are considering, he added, “is that a portion of those people who do not have a criminal record committed crimes for the first time while in the United States.”.

The controversy over the Visa Waiver resurfaced in recent weeks after the leak of the meeting of the Foreign Relations Commission of the Chamber of Deputies, which had been declared secret, and which was attended by the United States ambassador to Chile, Bernadette Meehan, to present about the program.

Furthermore, last week, the sheriff of Oakland County, Mike Bouchard, in Michigan, declared to the American press that the groups that attack their communities come from Chile and that, at this moment, there are around 100 operating throughout the country. .

“Each crew member plays a role in carrying out the robbery, using tools that block Wi-Fi-operated cameras and alarm systems.“, accurate.

Bouchard attributed part of the problem to the U.S. government and the provision of the Visa Waiver, which gives these people a lower level of scrutiny at the border and allows them to travel to the United States for up to 90 days.

After last year a group of legislators from the North American country questioned the future of the visa due to Chile’s failure to comply with several requirements, the Government of the South American country signed an agreement that was implemented in July 2023 to allow the exchange of background of Chileans who travel to US territory.

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 for a maximum of 90 days without carrying a visa, but with an electronic travel authorization.