Abstract

Contemporary liberal democracies have employed exclusive or restrictive language, such as promising stricter border control, to ease domestic concerns about increased immigration, while simultaneously maintaining inclusive outcomes by accepting immigrants to support labor markets or to concur with global norms. Dynamic changes in migration flows disrupt this exclusive–inclusive balance known as the policy gap. Aligned with the South American shift since 2016 to more restrictive migration measures, in 2018, Chile’s new administration proposed legislation to replace the migration law, started a regularization process, and issued two executive decrees to change nationality-specific visa procedures. We analyze the language, timing, and implementation of the decrees as units of analysis, juxtaposing their apparent versus actual purposes. Since Chile positions restrictive measures as protective of immigrants, this case of migration governance inverses the policy gap debate; now, inclusive language disguises exclusive outcomes.