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MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, April 19th 2026 - 09:09 UTC

Tag: Migration

  • Friday, April 17th 2026 - 11:06 UTC

    Chile launches deportation flights under Kast with 40 migrants expelled to Bolivia, Ecuador and Colombia

    The operation is not unprecedented in Chile. Under the government of Gabriel Boric (2022-2026), more than 20 deportation flights were carried out and roughly 4,500 people were expelled

    The government of Chilean President José Antonio Kast carried out its first deportation flight of irregular migrants on Thursday, expelling 40 people on a Chilean Air Force (FACh) Boeing 737 that made stops in Bolivia, Ecuador and Colombia. The 19 Colombians, the last group to disembark, arrived in Bogotá shortly after 8:00 p.m. local time. The 17 Bolivians and four Ecuadorians were dropped off previously in La Paz and Guayaquil, respectively. Each deportee traveled accompanied by an officer from Chile's Investigative Police (PDI).

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  • Thursday, April 16th 2026 - 23:08 UTC

    “We are oppressed in Brazil”: thousands of conservative Brazilians seek new life in Paraguay

    Paraguay broke a record in 2025 by granting 40,600 residency permits to foreigners. More than half — 23,500 — went to Brazilians, far outpacing the 4,300 Argentines in second place

    Hundreds of Brazilians camped overnight on beach chairs, plastic benches and tarps outside an immigration center in Ciudad del Este, on the border with Brazil, to secure a spot in a Paraguayan government drive to fast-track residency applications. Some organized an improvised barbecue on a barrel while they waited. Others had traveled more than 1,500 kilometers by bus. All shared a common thread: the desire to leave Brazil for reasons they describe as political, economic and ideological, according to a report by BBC News Brasil.

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  • Saturday, April 4th 2026 - 11:30 UTC

    Mercosur, climate and immigration: the hoaxes targeting rural Europe

    Russia is cited as one of the identified sources, though not the only one, and the motivations remain difficult to pinpoint.<br /> <br />

    The European Commission and fact-checking experts have identified a growing wave of disinformation targeting rural areas and the agri-food sector across the continent, with campaigns exploiting the controversy surrounding the EU-Mercosur trade deal, climate skepticism and anti-immigration sentiment.

  • Tuesday, March 31st 2026 - 02:11 UTC

    Chile's new government freezes migrant legalization, eyes deportations

    “Chile has been undermined by illegal immigration,” and “organized crime,” Kast said. However, Chile still has one of the lowest homicide rates in Latin America: 5.4 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2025.

    President José Antonio Kast's government has suspended a decree drafted by the previous administration of Gabriel Boric that would have regularized some 182,000 people who entered Chile irregularly and voluntarily registered with immigration authorities.

  • Friday, March 20th 2026 - 18:55 UTC

    Trump ally asked ICE to detain mother of his child amid custody dispute

    Zampolli's name also appears multiple times in recently released Epstein case documents published by the Department of Justice

    Paolo Zampolli, a former modeling agent and special envoy to President Donald Trump, contacted a senior Immigration and Customs Enforcement official in June 2025 requesting that his Brazilian ex-girlfriend, Amanda Ungaro, be placed in immigration custody while she was being held in a Miami jail on fraud charges. Zampolli and Ungaro were locked in a custody battle over their teenage son.

  • Tuesday, March 17th 2026 - 23:24 UTC

    Kast launches border barriers in northern Chile and hardens migration agenda

    Photo: AP/Esteban Felix

    Chilean President José Antonio Kast on Monday launched the border control works he had promised during the campaign, starting in Chacalluta in the Arica and Parinacota region, in an early sign that migration and security will be among the defining priorities of his administration. According to Chile’s presidency, Kast inspected the works at the frontier and highlighted the Army’s deployment to secure the area.

  • Monday, March 9th 2026 - 17:55 UTC

    U.S. kept deporting migrants to Venezuela and Iran despite plans for military action

    The Trump administration explored and expanded legal tools to accelerate mass deportations of migrants, including measures targeting Venezuelans under the rhetoric of an “invasion.”

    The United States continued deporting migrants to Iran and Venezuela while increasing military and diplomatic pressure on both countries, according to official records, agency reports and data from organizations tracking removal flights. In Iran’s case, Washington resumed deportation flights to Tehran in September 2025 after decades without carrying out such transfers, in a shift that coincided with a sharp deterioration in bilateral relations.

  • Saturday, February 14th 2026 - 00:01 UTC

    ICE suspends two officers after judge throws out charges in Minneapolis shooting case

    ICE Director Todd Lyons said the review concerns “sworn testimony” from “two separate officers” that “appears” to include “untruthful statements.”

    Two U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers have been placed on administrative leave as ICE and the Justice Department (DOJ) open a joint probe following video evidence that undercut parts of the official account of a Minneapolis arrest in which a Venezuelan man was shot in the leg.

  • Monday, January 26th 2026 - 02:16 UTC

    Minneapolis shooting during federal immigration raid triggers U.S. nationwide backlash

    The case of the 37-year-old nurse murdered by ICE agents threatens to become a new test for the boundaries between federal authority, state autonomy, and public trust

    Protesters returned to the streets of Minneapolis demanding accountability after Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive-care nurse and U.S. citizen, was shot dead during a federal immigration enforcement operation. Multiple videos of the incident are now central to official reviews, as the episode triggers a fresh political clash between Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and the Trump administration—set against a broader national fight over “sanctuary” policies and how far local authorities should cooperate with federal immigration agencies.

  • Thursday, January 15th 2026 - 15:41 UTC

    US to suspend immigrant visas for 75 countries, including Uruguay; Orsi calls it a “worrying signal”

    The US State Department said the suspension will remain in place until the government can ensure that new immigrants “do not extract wealth from the American people.”

    Uruguay’s President Yamandú Orsi said he was concerned by Washington’s decision to pause immigrant visa issuance for citizens of 75 countries —including Uruguay— starting January 21, with no end date announced. “In numerical terms it’s not very important, but as a signal it certainly worries us,” Orsi said after meeting US Ambassador Lou Rinaldi at the presidential residence in Montevideo.

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