El Ciudadano
Original article: Expertos advierten brecha entre evidencia y debate político sobre migración en Chile
The International Seminar «Global Migration Challenges,» organized by the Millennium Nucleus MIGRA, convened on Tuesday, April 14, featuring renowned migration economist Giovanni Peri (pictured), former Interior Minister Carolina Tohá, former Undersecretary of the Interior Juan Francisco Galli, and Principal Researcher of the MIGRA Nucleus, Patricio Domínguez. They discussed public perceptions, the economic impact of migration, and public policies in Chile.
Giovanni Peri, a professor at the University of California Davis and director of the Global Migration Center, emphasized that migration is a structural phenomenon in modern economies, highlighting the need for evidence-based public policies, especially concerning labor integration.
In this context, he stated, «Migration is not an accident: it is an investment. Thus, migrants often come from middle-income countries in search of better opportunities.»
International evidence, he added, shows that «migrants are not a random group: on average, they are more educated and skilled than the population of their host countries.»
Professor Peri concluded by recommending that «integration works best when early access to employment is prioritized, rather than prolonged transfers that may delay such integration.»
The Situation in Chile
Following the global perspective, the discussion turned specifically to Chile, where a major point of contention was the gap between available evidence and citizen perceptions.
In a context where public debate has been heavily strained by political factors, the panel warned that fears surrounding migration are not solely explained by economic factors, but also by concerns regarding security and cultural differences in everyday practices.
Former Undersecretary of the Interior under Sebastián Piñera’s government, Juan Francisco Galli, noted that «as a country, we are in a privileged economic position in the region, which makes it natural for us to be a migration hotspot.»
However, he acknowledged that «the main issue is that there are political difficulties obstructing the construction of agreements on this matter,» which is why it is essential to improve public perceptions regarding migration so that «the cost of going against the current is lower.»
Meanwhile, former Interior Minister Carolina Tohá pointed out that «there has been political opportunism in how migration has been addressed.» Specifically, she stated that the main public policy challenge is «not migration itself, but how the costs and benefits of migration are distributed.»
Consequently, she criticized the approach that focuses solely on border control, stating that while it is important, pushing the public policy goal of halting all migration «creates a factory for irregular migration.»
Patricio Domínguez, an academic at the Catholic University, emphasized that evidence shows that economically, migration is not a zero-sum issue, as migrants «do not compete with Chileans but contribute to economic growth and labor market dynamism.»
The seminar highlighted the contributions that academia can make to public debate by providing empirical and concrete evidence.
Thus, the principal challenge that remains for the political and academic world became evident: how to improve citizen perceptions in order to harness the significant economic contributions that migrants can and want to make.
El Ciudadano
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