[Tango-L] Illegal immigration to Argentina

[Sergio Vandekier]

Immigration to Argentina has decreased considerably in the last 20 years due to unstable economical situations.  Despite of that it continued even during the worst economical crisis of 2001 when about 80.000 legal immigrants entered the country.

 

Conservative figures stablishe that for every legal immigrant there are 3 or 4 illegal immigrants.

It is considered that there are between 750.000 and 2.5 million illegal immigrants presently living in Argentina. 

  
 Nearly a million permanent residency applications were filed from 2000 to 2008, and their country of origin was as follows:

 

Paraguay 319,492   Bolivia 240,467  Peru 138,355 China 34,746 

 

United States 24,626

Chile 23,231  Uruguay 22,733 Brazil 19,547 Colombia 16,539 
 

South Korea 10,279 Ukraine 10,072   


Spain 7,434 Germany 7,164 Mexico 6,791  Ecuador 6,564 Cuba 6,093  France 5,890

 

Venezuela 4,618  Italy  4,392 Russia 4,249 Other countries 16,855

TOTAL 953,368

 

In April 2006, the national government started the Patria Grande plan to regularize the migratory situation of illegal aliens. The plan attempts to ease the bureaucratic process of getting documentation and residence papers, and is aimed at citizens of Mercosur countries and its associated states (Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela).

 

Sergio