sustained increase in Chilean nationals residing more or less permanently in foreign countries. In response to this emigration trend and the increasing importance of maintaining links with its expatriate community, in the last decade Chile has expanded jus sanguinis provisions.162 The 2005 constitutional referendum is the most recent provision granting Chilean nationality to persons born abroad to a citizen parent or grandparent who is Chilean by birth.163 This reform has been described as the product of a “period of intense and complex political debates culminating in the reform of 2005. While the military dictatorship had come to an end … in 1989, the transition to a fully democratic regime took more than a decade”164 Current Chilean immigration and nationality laws were enacted during the Pinochet military dictatorship. Decree 1094 of 1975, the “Aliens Act,” and Supreme Decree No. 597 of 1984, known as the Immigration Regulations, constitute the applicable legal framework for nationality and immigration. This legal framework forms part of a national security policy165 that reflects open concern over the presence of migrants and distrust toward them.166 Furthermore, this framework entails extreme selectivity in the assessment of criteria for the granting of residence permits, and excessive controls and entry requirements at border crossings.167 Chilean migration legislation has not been substantially modified since the 1970s, and it has failed to address the changes in Chile since the return to democracy.168 Specifically, it has not been updated to deal with Chile’s status as a country of destination for migrants. During the first term of President Michelle Bachelet (2006–10), the executive branch’s general policy platform incorporated migration issues for the first time. Under the responsibility of the Ministry of Interior,169 through Presidential Directive No. 9 of September 2, 2008, the following broad principles framed government action on the issues of migration: • Chile is a host country where international conventions and treaties must be respected and upheld. • Local integration of migrants is key to generate positive acceptance by the national community, to ensure the respect of their cultural, economic, and political differences. • Managing transnational migration must involve collaboration with governments of countries of destination, transit, and origin. • In accordance with international human rights law, Chile must have institutional capacity to regulate and administer access to residency for migrants in the national territory.170 BORN IN THE AMERICAS 51