Remaining Haitian Immigrants in Chile Face Uncertain Future As Far Right Surges In Presidential Election

SANTIAGO, CHILE - NOVEMBER 19: A Haitian immigrant walks with fellow immigrants at La Vega Central market on November 19, 2021 in Santiago, Chile. Chile's once sizable Haitian population is known for doing much of the manual labor work that many Chilean citizens prefer not to do. Immigration became a major issue in Chile's first round presidential election, with far right candidate and former congressman Jose Antonio Kast winning the highest percentage of ballots nationwide. Kast has proposed digging a ditch to curb illegal immigration and is often compared with former U.S. President Donald Trump and Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro. Chileans will return to the polls in December for a second round vote to decide between Kast and leftist lawmaker and former protest leader Gabriel Boric, who came in second place in first round voting. In September some 14,000 Haitian immigrants crossed the Mexican border into Del Rio, Texas after journeying thousands of miles, mostly from Chile and Brazil. Many were deported back to Haiti, dashing their hopes that the Biden administration would welcome them into the U.S. Those Haitians who stayed in Chile now face an uncertain future, as visa extensions and permits to continue working in Chile have increasingly been rejected and the far right surges nationwide. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)