Haitian children feared trafficked to Chile, prosecutors launch investigation

(Bloomberg) — Chilean prosecutors are investigating the arrival last year of hundreds of Haitian children as part of a family reunification program that officials believe may have been used for human trafficking. The state has now lost track of many of the children, Chilean authorities said.

The National Prosecutor’s Office opened an investigation on Monday after a confidential report from the control office, cited by local media BioBio Chile, revealed a failure to verify the relationship between groups of migrant children and the adults who accompanied them; address and document verification; and tracking minors after their arrival on charter flights. One adult often accompanied various groups of minors that inspectors were later unable to trace, the report said.

The unfolding case shines a bright light on the often opaque migration flows in Latin America. In particular, Chile, considered the region’s most prosperous country, is attracting a growing share of foreigners fleeing economic hardship and violence, especially after the Trump administration banned most immigration from 2025.

Eugenio Campos, director of the anti-corruption unit of the National Prosecutor’s Office, told Radio Duna that the whereabouts of the children and juveniles who entered the country on authorized charter flights were unclear.

“The worrying thing is that based on the information gathered in the investigation, we don’t yet know where they are and we have to find out,” Campos said, estimating that there are more than 200.

The supervisory authority declined to comment on the case, citing an ongoing investigation.

Immigration has become a politically sensitive issue in Chile, with hundreds of thousands of foreigners pouring in over the past decade, particularly from Venezuela and Haiti. Census data shows that the Haitian-born population grew from about 1,600 in 2012 to more than 62,000 in 2017. While the 2024 census counted over 80,000 Haitians in Chile, the National Migration Service estimated it at nearly 190,000.

Unlike the Venezuelan community, language and cultural barriers prevented many Creole-speaking Haitians from assimilating in Spanish-speaking Chile. The Haitian Embassy in Chile could not be reached for comment.

President José Antonio Kast, who took office in March with a promise to crack down on illegal migration, posted on X that allegations of massive and uncontrolled entry of Haitian children into Chile in 2025 are “extremely serious” and require “maximum attention.” He said the government will work together to ensure justice is done and accountability is established.

Kast’s winning platform capitalized on growing anti-immigration sentiment. A June poll by the Centro de Estudios Públicos found that 67% of Chileans believe immigrants increase crime rates, up from 41% in 2017.

Announcing the opening of the investigation on Monday, the prosecutor’s office said that “the seriousness of the facts included the potential existence of a public official or group of people who could have facilitated or supported the illegal entry of foreign nationals into Chile.”

Chile’s National Migration Service filed a criminal complaint on Monday, arguing that the facts may point to systemic trafficking involving not only accompanying adults, but also airlines and travel agencies, among others.

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