Francisca Vargas, from Universidad Diego Portales' migrant clinic, slams the Kast government's Escudo Fronterizo plan trench on the Peru border as costly and ineffective, amid fiscal constraints, urging better migration policies instead.
Francisca Vargas, director of the Clínica Jurídica de Migrantes y Refugiados at Universidad Diego Portales (UDP), published a letter in La Tercera on March 22, 2026, critiquing the trench-digging initiated under President José Antonio Kast's Escudo Fronterizo plan, launched a week earlier on March 16 at Chacalluta, Arica. This measure, part of a 500 km northern border security initiative including trenches up to 3 meters deep, is decried for its high fiscal cost during 'economic tightness and national emergency,' as admitted by the Executive. While endorsing 'ordered, safe, and regular migration,' Vargas deems the approach 'impulsive rather than effective,' offering symbolic value but failing to tackle root causes. Citing comparative evidence and Chile's past, she argues physical barriers merely redirect flows to riskier, clandestine paths, increasing migrant vulnerability and fueling human trafficking, illicit trade, weapons, and drugs—threatening public safety. Vargas calls for prioritizing regular entry facilitation, effective migration management, and regularization of existing migrants to protect national security and rule of law.
