Argentina tightens immigration law

Argentina's President Mauricio Macri on Monday tightened immigration law to bar entry of migrants with a criminal record and speed up the deportation process.

Macri signed an emergency decree that modifies the existing law, citing "a critical situation that calls for the adoption of urgent measures," state news agency Telam said.

The decree notes "recent acts by organized crime" and the state's "difficulty in expelling foreign nationals" due to the complex procedure in place, which can "take up to seven years to process."

According to the decree, the number of foreigners in Argentine prisons has increased in recent years, reaching 21.35 percent of the total prison population in 2016.

In neighboring Bolivia, which has a large migrant population living in Argentina, lawmakers from both the ruling and opposition parties criticized the measure as "xenophobic."

Some 30 percent of Bolivians living abroad are in Argentina.

"We are going to coordinate with the Foreign Affairs Ministry (to form) a representation to Argentina, so the Legislative Assembly can be heard," Deputy Victor Gutierrez, of the opposition Democratic Unity (UD) party said.

Gutierrez said Macri was simply echoing the words and actions of U.S. President Donald Trump, who over the weekend issued a controversial, temporary ban on travelers from seven mainly Muslim countries.

Argentina's tough immigration law comes on the heels of a statement by its Minister of Security Patricia Bullrich, who said more than a third of prisoners convicted of drug trafficking and other charges were of Bolivian, Peruvian or Paraguayan origin. Enditem