The president of Argentina, Javier Milei, has banned the entry into the country and enabled the expulsion of foreigners who have insulted Argentines. The far-right leader has implemented this measure with a decree of necessity and urgency published this Thursday in the Official Gazette, while the echoes of what he considers “an anti-Argentine campaign,” orchestrated during the World Cup by the governments of Brazil and Mexico along with the US Republican Party, are still heard, according to Milei’s statements and repetitions. The presidential decree has been harshly criticized by jurists, social leaders, and politicians. Many pointed out that if a similar rule were in effect in other nations, Milei himself would be banned from entering numerous countries whose governments, citizens, or cultures he has disparaged and insulted.
“Whoever attacks the Argentine Republic is not welcome in our country,” was the phrase with which the Government disseminated the decree that modifies the migration law and incorporates new grounds to reject the entry of foreigners into national territory and cancel already granted residence permits. The decision is part of an increasingly restrictive and regressive regime for immigrants that the far-right Government has been implementing.
In the grounds of his decree, Milei states that, recently, “messages of hatred and acts of hostility and contempt specifically directed against the Argentine people, their culture, and their national identity have increased considerably.” For the president, these virtual behaviors pose “a risk to all Argentines” and affect “the conditions of harmonious coexistence and social peace.” However, Milei clarifies that “under no circumstances” can his provision be used based on “those expressions of ideological dissent or political, academic, or citizen criticism, which constitute a legitimate exercise of constitutionally enshrined rights.”
With his expression “anti-Argentine campaign,” Milei refers to the criticisms spread on social networks and, in some cases, made by public figures, initially directed against the Argentine national football team for their performance in the recent World Cup in the United States, Mexico, and Canada. The comments viralized on social media ranged from alleged referee favors to the Argentine team to accusations of widespread racism in the country.
Without mentioning evidence, the president first reacted by blaming his political opponents, among whom he included governments of other countries, such as those of Brazil’s Lula da Silva and Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum. Then his party, La Libertad Avanza, announced it would push for charging fees to foreign citizens in public hospitals and universities. Now he has issued a decree that once again bets on nationalism.
Milei’s measure generated a wave of criticism in Argentina, voiced from multiple social and political sectors. Although it was only defended by far-right figures, it nevertheless managed to put the president at the center of the scene, at a time when polls have been showing a marked decline in his popularity and a growing negative image, associated with economic problems, falling incomes, consumption, and registered employment.
“Milei’s decree is an act of sloppy and unconstitutional patriotism,” warned deputy Maximiliano Ferraro, from the centrist Civic Coalition. “It seems to respond more to a personal political need than to a true necessity and urgency of the country,” he observed. From the Peronist side, legislator Florencia Carignano, former national director of Migrations, considered it “ironic” that the decree comes from “a Government that makes hate messages a State policy.” And she added: “If all countries did this, Milei could not enter several… I can think of at least eight: Brazil, Chile, Mexico, the Vatican, Spain, Colombia, China, Venezuela.”
Another deputy, Pablo Juliano, from the century-old Radical Civic Union, pointed out: “They play patriots by decree over a social media controversy, while preparing the greatest handover of our lands.” He was referring to the reform the Government is pushing in Congress to remove the current limits on foreign ownership of land.
