MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina: New Migration Agency transferred to Security Ministry

The idea is to create a Migration Police to bundle up what is currently split among three different forces, Bullrich explained

Argentina's outgoing Security Minister Patricia Bullrich announced on Tuesday the creation of the new National Migration Agency, marking a major restructuring aimed at comprehensive management with a primary focus on border patrols to combat transnational crime.

The move involves relocating the National Migration Direction from the Interior Ministry to the Security portfolio.

Bullrich emphasized that the primary goal of the measure was to improve border surveillance, specifically targeting drug trafficking, terrorism, and human trafficking.

“The shift from the Ministry of the Interior to Security has to do with a design that is used throughout the world,” Bullrich said, stressing that the new decentralized agency would have more autonomy and work better.

“All provinces will participate in the new force, with a federal perspective,” she also explained. In the long run, the idea is to create a Migration Police force to bundle up what is currently split among Border Guard (Gendarmería Nacional), Coast Guard (Prefectura Naval Argentia - PNA), and the Airport Security Police (PSA).

Alejandra Monteoliva, who will succeed Bullrich as Security Minister, also participated in Tuesday's announcement. “Organized crime does not recognize borders or jurisdictions; it is global and globalized, which leads us to make decisions. This is a process to achieve greater security for everyone,” she pointed out.

Bullrich also reiterated her support for the La Libertad Avanza (LLA) senator-elect Lorena Villaverde of Río Negro, who is facing a challenge over alleged links to drug trafficking. A fellow Senator-elect, Bullrich warned that there is “much ado about nothing” and insisted that a conviction was necessary to expel a person from a legislative body.

“If we have to judge someone [who is] innocent because we are in a different political party, we are making a mistake. It is a political challenge,” Bullrich argued. She further remarked that Villaverde was elected by the people and ratified by the provincial legislature.