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Argentine President Javier Milei has modified the Migration Law by decree to prohibit the entry of foreigners who express hate speech toward the South American country, according to the text published Wednesday night, which will be submitted to Congress.
The new regulation also provides for the expulsion and cancellation of residency for foreigners who engage in such behavior. The measure is in effect, although Congress must still rule on its validity.
According to the presidential decree, the measures will apply to those found to have "directed hate speech orally or in writing, or incited violence against the Argentine people as a whole, or against any Argentine citizen, motivated by the latter's nationality."
"Having carried out or participated in acts of outrage against national patriotic symbols; or having incited to commit any of the acts provided for in this paragraph," it adds.
Argentina has historically been a country open to immigration that has ensured equal rights in health, education, and housing for its residents, as well as civil rights guaranteed by the Constitution.
The right-wing president decided on the measure after denouncing days ago the existence of an alleged "anti-Argentine campaign," for which he provided no evidence but said was financed by the governments of Brazil and Mexico and the US Democratic Party, in an apparent reference to criticism that went viral on social media surrounding the World Cup.
The decree is a response "to the recent manifestations of hostility against the Argentine Republic and Argentines (...) Whoever attacks the Argentine Republic is not welcome in our country," stated a communiqué from the presidential office on X.
The eventual cancellation of residency "entails the order to leave the country within the set period or the expulsion from the national territory, taking into consideration the factual and personal circumstances of the individual."
The decree clarifies that "in no case" can these punishments be applied to "those expressions of ideological dissent or political, academic, or civic criticism, which constitute a legitimate exercise of constitutionally enshrined rights."
Argentina is going through a diplomatic crisis with Brazil after Milei participated in an opposition political rally in São Paulo, during which he referred to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva as a "thief" and "convict."
Milei often includes insults and pejorative expressions in his speeches. He calls the press "ensobrada" (corrupt/bribed) and has labeled his political opponents as such.
[Publicidad]