In a ruling that shakes the foundations of presidential power, the National Electoral Chamber on Thursday annulled Decree of Necessity and Urgency No. 366/2025, signed by Javier Milei, which transferred to the National Directorate of Migration the authority to grant Argentine citizenship—a power that since 1869 had been in the hands of federal judges. The court considered the measure an «excess of powers» by the Executive Branch and an invasion of a prohibited area: electoral matters.
The DNU, issued on May 28, 2025, not only modified the Migration Law but also the Higher Education Law and the National Education Law. Among its most controversial points, it required health insurance for foreigners, limited free access to healthcare and university education to those who were not permanent residents, and tightened impediments to entry and stay for foreigners with criminal records.
But the heart of the conflict was the transfer of the authority to grant citizenship by naturalization: from federal judges to the National Directorate of Migration. The Chamber, with the votes of judges Alberto Dalla Vía and Daniel Bejas, held that citizenship implies the granting of political rights, and that Article 99, subsection 3 of the National Constitution expressly prohibits the Executive from issuing decrees of necessity and urgency on electoral matters, «under penalty of absolute and incurable nullity.»
The ruling also noted that there were no reasons of «rigorous exceptionality and urgency» to justify bypassing ordinary legislative procedure. «The Government’s arguments—judicial overload, need for greater control—are matters of opportunity, merit, or convenience, typical of a legislative decision, not a constitutional urgency,» the court stated.
The case that prompted the decision was that of Liping Yang, a Chinese merchant who has lived for eleven years in Oro Verde, Entre Ríos. Yang, who entered the country in September 2015, has no criminal record, opened a supermarket, and pays taxes in Argentina. A federal court had rejected his citizenship application due to an expulsion order issued by the Supreme Court that was never enforced. The Chamber not only annulled the DNU but also overturned that ruling and granted citizenship to Yang.
With the endorsement of the fiscal opinion, the judges ordered that the decision be communicated to the Ministry of Security so that it instructs the National Directorate of Migration and informs all federal judges with electoral jurisdiction in the country of the ruling. This is the first time the National Electoral Chamber has ruled on this DNU, although lower court judges had already declared its unconstitutionality in similar cases.
Article 76 of the National Constitution prohibits legislative delegation to the Executive, and the ruling recalled that courts must uphold the principle of normative hierarchy, applying the law over a decree that modifies it with excess of powers. The sentence highlights the limits of presidential power and reaffirms that, in electoral matters, Congress is the only body authorized to legislate.
para mi este dnu era una estafa barbara milei queria vender la patria al mejor postor menos mal q la justicia le puso un freno estos fachos creen q pueden hacer lo q quieren la ciudadania no se compra carajo viva la argentina soberana 🇦🇷✊
Para mí estos jueces zurdos de mierda siempre cagando todo. Milei quería acelerar la ciudadanía para gente útil y ellos la frenan. Se creen dueños de la Argentina. Vamos a tener que bancar a los extranjeros de arriba mientras los argentinos se pudren. Kukas del poder judicial, lárguense a Cuba.