In recent decades migration within Latin America has increased significantly. To take one example, 1,625,074 South American migrants were living in Chile as of 2023, many enduring precarious conditions such as being on the streets or in assigned basic camping sites without water or sewage facilities. In the past 50 years the Chilean government has enacted just two official migration policies: the first in 1975, designed by the military dictatorship and with some amendments added by subsequent democratic governments, and the second in 2021. This article aims at a qualitative analysis of the present and controversial migration policy that is based upon the narratives of key migration policy actors in contemporary Chile. Three main framings for understanding the policy are presented. The first can be defined as technocratic, attentive to format and data processing the second is socially conscious of the subjectivity and vulnerability of migrants and the last focuses on ensuring migrants&rsquo human rights. These visions are not necessarily in opposition, as they sometimes interconnect or complement each other. However, the interviewees expressed a certain degree of gratitude that a new law had been designed and ratified, although they had expected more from it.
