Peruvians in Argentina Have Always Had It Hard. With Milei, Things Have Gotten Worse

Editor's note: The reporter has translated all of the quotes from Spanish to English and uses first names to maintain privacy.

Ana recalled the day her son fell seriously ill and she needed to take him to the hospital.

“He was 14,” she said in Spanish, her voice breaking slightly. Having immigrated from Peru to Argentina and being unfamiliar with the health system in Buenos Aires, she was unsure what to do when hospital workers didn’t attend to him. 

“They made us wait five hours, hungry, desperate,” she recalled. After hours of anguish, they still didn’t receive proper help. 

On her second visit, she said, she begged the hospital attendants to assist her son. Still, they gave scant information and only a few pills for him to take. She assumed it was a lung virus but later learned it was much more serious than she expected.

“I was told at first that he was just born with a bad lung,” she said. 

“So, I checked [his medical records] from every year and told the doctor that I had confirmation that [the illness] was not from birth.” 

Ana had to fight to get help for her son.

At that time, Ana lived in a villa, a small, economically disadvantaged area within the city of Buenos Aires [CABA, for its Spanish initials]. Rony, an advocate from Peru who is part of Bloque de Trabajadorxs Migrantes [Migrant Workers Block], explained that the villa was cheap to live in, but it also held risk. Ana added that it was stigmatized. She said health workers who have treated her presumed that most people in the villa had lung problems and tuberculosis because of its conditions.

Peruvians' impact on Buenos Aires

Walking through some neighborhoods with large numbers of immigrants, such as Abasto, the largest Peruvian community in the city, one can feel the cultural impact. The aroma of ceviche, a classic Peruvian dish of marinated fish, mingles with the welcoming scent of ají de gallina, or chicken stew, as Peruvian restaurants and bustling fruit and vegetable markets drive the neighborhood’s economy. 

Despite these vibrant pockets of culture and the draw of tourism, Ana and other Peruvian migrants say they experience day-to-day discrimination simply because they are Peruvian. Unfortunately, this issue is often overlooked and lacks comprehensive research. 

“In Peru, they say, there is more crime. They treat us like criminals. That we are drug traffickers, that we are thieves. Every Peruvian, well, either he is a narco, or he is a chorro [thief],” Ana explained.

The challenges the Peruvian community faces in Buenos Aires signal broader social systemic barriers to accessing essential services that affect many immigrants in Argentina.

The inaccessible accessible systems

Argentina has a free, public, and universal health care and education system, offering services to whoever needs them, regardless of residents having social security or the ability to pay. 

“For many years now, in theory, access to health care has been easy,” Rony said in Spanish. The opportunity for treatment in hospitals and public health care does not always imply equal access for immigrants, who face hurdles. 

Ana’s story is just one of many among the Peruvian migrant community in Buenos Aires, where accessing primary health care is often fraught with discrimination and neglect. The issue has become even more problematic with Argentine President Javier Milei’s government.

In fact, the government in Salta province began to charge non-resident foreigners for health care, an unconstitutional move permitted only in a declared economic emergency in the province. As a result, the number of foreigners attending Salta hospitals has dropped by more than 80%. 

Other provinces and even the country could soon follow suit. In June the Argentine Senate approved Milei’s controversial Ley Bases, granting the president extraordinary legislative powers in four different areas for one year by declaring a similar “public emergency.” The original draft of the Ley Bases includes a section that would charge international students to attend public and free universities in Argentina.

Challenges with the identification card

As for the current situation in Buenos Aires, Rony noted that he had not heard of any cases in which foreigners were being charged, but did know that in some instances “certain restrictions” had been placed. 

Sometimes, when seeking medical attention, Argentine citizens and temporary and permanent residents are asked to show the Argentine identification card (DNI, for its Spanish initials). This is not legally required, but it creates challenges.

Before Patria Grande, an initiative enacted in 2006 to grant legal resident status to immigrants from MERCOSUR member states (including observer states such as Peru), obtaining a DNI, the door to health and education, was almost impossible. MERCOSUR is a free trade bloc that includes Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay.

Because of this, social activist Lourdes, along with other leaders and associations from various communities, created the Association of United Migrant and Refugee Peruvian Women (MPUMR, for its Spanish initials) to help Peruvian or migrant women secure a DNI.

“There were people who at that time could not enroll their children or be treated in hospitals because they did not have the DNI,” Lourdes said, speaking in Spanish as she recalled her determination and frustration. 

“We protested, and we managed to get it done, to change the law, and indeed, they said that we could obtain the DNI through a program called Patria Grande.” 

Her organization helped settle around 9,000 immigrants in Argentina. Still, Lourdes acknowledges that discrimination and challenges persist for Peruvian migrants in other forms.

Pilar and Margarita, two coordinators with the Centro de Integración para Migrantes y Refugiados de CABA (Buenos Aires City Center for Migrants and Refugees), work with immigrants struggling to secure documentation and access to health care, education, and housing.

Currently, new DNI applicants must start the procedures online, and those without access to technology must rely on intermediaries who charge for services. Also, until 2011, the migration office didn’t have the infrastructure to handle the increasing number of applications, further expanding the role of expensive intermediaries.

Ana, who helps with these applications as a coordinator at the advocacy organization Frente de Organizaciones en Lucha (Battling Organizations Front), describes it as a process with a lot of bureaucracy and extremely difficult to complete without help.

Milei’s anti-immigrant rhetoric

Fostered through immigrant bias and challenges within the government system, prejudice is prevalent in Argentine society, exacerbated by Milei’s rhetoric. Ana shares her experiences with discrimination, including being denied work.

“Once, I wanted to work as a nanny. When they saw I was Peruvian, they said no. They said they couldn’t leave their daughter alone with a Peruvian.” 

Her frustration was palpable. “Even with good references, they didn’t trust me because of my nationality… And they also saw the place where I lived, which was the villa. So, the villa is also a reference that establishes us as criminals. Poor or migrant people are seen as criminals.”

For Ana, the new administration has only worsened the situation. “Those who discriminated against us before now do it with more enthusiasm, with more fury, with more hatred.” 

Even though Argentina has welcomed migrants for years and has had favorable migration regulations, there is a persistent myth that migrants use and abuse public resources. Milei has created an “internal enemy” of migrants, according to numerous Argentina journalists who have fact-checked his speeches and data.

With his new legal powers, Milei recently signed a decree that immensely increased immigration fees, yet another obstacle. Laws are already becoming more burdensome for migrants.

Despite everything, Ana is committed to defending the country that opened its arms to her. 

“I consider myself a part of Argentina; I will defend this country even with my life,” she exclaims.

Nely, a Peruvian compañera of Ana at FOL, adds that she will continue fighting for her organization and her and her children’s future in the country they call home. 

“I have my children, who are Argentines, so I am going to fight for my children and Argentina."

The Peruvian migrant community remains determined. Amid the challenges lie hope and resilience.