The article addresses the place of Colchane and Iquique in the forced displacement of the Venezuelan population from the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic until March 2022. The authors argue that the closure of the land borders produced a serious crisis that affected the mobility of Venezuelan migrants, as well as impacting the lives of the inhabitants of the highlands and the coastal city of Iquique. The adoption of centralist measures based on the armouring and militarisation of the border zone, together with the restrictions imposed by the health authorities, affected Venezuelan mobility, and also impacted the cross-border social practices of the border communities and the life of the city. Thus, inefficient migration management, coupled with the abandonment of the legal obligation to protect, favoured the growth of a hostile climate that led to xenophobic responses, which led to the criminalisation of the migratory flow and anti-migrant demonstrations. Consequently, the idea of the border as a separation, protection and protective shield was reinforced by the pandemic and structured the mobility of those who crossed it, making their lives more precarious and vulnerable.