The National Electoral Chamber annulled a key part of Decree 366/2025 signed by Javier Milei, which transferred to the National Directorate of Migrations the authority to grant Argentine citizenship. The court understood that this modification could not be made by decree, as citizenship would be directly linked to the exercise of political rights.
The decision represents a judicial setback for a reform that the national government sought to use to organize a sensitive procedure, historically in the hands of federal judges. The national administration argued that Migrations was the most suitable agency to verify the conditions of applicants, in line with a stricter and more effective policy of migration control and defense of national interest.
Milei's government proposed a more robust immigration policy
However, the Chamber held that the Executive overstepped a matter prohibited for decrees of necessity and urgency. According to the ruling, modifying who decides on the granting of citizenship implies altering the regime established by Congress to access political rights rather than being merely an administrative issue, and therefore it should be processed through an ordinary law.
The ruling came in the case of Liping Yang, a Chinese citizen whose application for a citizenship letter had been rejected by the federal judge with electoral jurisdiction in Entre Ríos. Upon reviewing that case, the Chamber not only overturned the first-instance decision but also declared the constitutional invalidity of the changes introduced by the Decree regarding citizenship.
They pointed out that the Government "did not demonstrate" an exceptional urgency that justified bypassing the parliamentary process. It will now have to be submitted to the legislative process of the National Congress.
The Government strengthens immigration controls and advances in defense of national security
The ruling does not invalidate the political diagnosis that motivated the reform, nor the real emergency of the migration system. The fundamental discussion remains whether Argentina should maintain a loose and fragmented system for granting citizenship or whether it should move towards more rigorous controls, especially when that recognition enables access to political and social rights that weigh on all Argentines.
With this decision, the authority to grant citizenship will remain in the hands of federal judges under the regime of law 346. For Milei's government, the institutional path will now lie in Congress, where it will need to seek legislative support if it intends to advance with a permanent reform.
