Parliament approves hearings with AIMA President and Presidential Minister

This Wednesday, the Constitutional Affairs Committee unanimously approved the hearings requested by Bloco e Livre with the President of the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA), as well as the PCP with the Minister of the Presidency.

After this vote, the President of the Constitutional Affairs Committee, Social Democratic MP Paula Cardoso, said that from the point of view of the calendar, the first hearing will be with the chairman of the board of directors of AIMA, Luis Gus Pinheiro, and the second with Minister António Leitán Amaro.

At the meeting, PCP deputy António Filipe considered it necessary for the holder of the presidential portfolio to comment on the current situation, in which “more than 400 thousand cases need to be transferred.”

“It is obvious that the current government has inherited a very difficult situation after the mistakes of the previous leader with the liquidation of the Service for Foreigners and Borders (SEF). But we have a government and it is important to find solutions,” he said.

António Filipe also denounced AIMA’s alleged practice of forcing immigrant citizen applicants to pay a fee of 400 euros if they want a faster appointment for their requests.

“It reminds us of candongueiros. This is unacceptable for the state,” the PKP deputy criticized.

In the same sense, the parliamentary leader of the Left Bloc, Fabian Figueiredo, protested against “the payment of a fee of about 400 euros for completing the service of obtaining a residence permit.”

“AIMA is performing poorly and needs to be put into operation quickly. Paying the fee created a sense of anxiety among immigrants. President of AIMA [Luís Goes Pinheiro] must be heard as soon as possible,” said the parliamentary leader of the Bloc de Esquerda, a position shared by Livre MP Paulo Muacho.

CDS-PP MP João Almeida described the current situation regarding the reception of immigrants in Portugal as “extremely serious”, especially as a result of “the clumsy reform carried out by the previous government, during which the SEF was first quarantined for many years and then died out.”

Patricia Gilvaz of the Liberal Initiative also blamed the previous socialist leader: “At AIMA we were faced with images of hundreds of immigrants in Third World conditions.”

“It is the fault of the PS, which joined forces with its leftist partners to destroy the SEF. This responsibility of the PS must be exposed,” he said.

Soon after, Patricia Gilvas was corrected by Communist MP António Filipe, pointing out that the PCP “opposes the closure of the SEF.”

AIMA was defended by Socialist MP Elsa Pais, who acknowledged “already old” problems in the service sector due to high demand.

“We have recorded distorted news and unfounded concerns about the payment of duties. The AIMA president will have the opportunity to clear all this up,” the former secretary of state warned.

Elsa Pais stressed that the previous government’s goal was to separate immigration processes from the border police system.

“It was a paradigm shift in line with the humanistic values ​​that have always guided Portugal. The results of the reforms take time, AIMA has six months and several associations consider its work to be good, despite acknowledging problems. It will be a very serious mistake if the government takes the path of retreat from this paradigm,” he added.

At the same meeting of the Constitutional Affairs Committee, another request by Chegi regarding AIMA was rejected with votes against the PSD, PS, Bloco de Esquerda and Livre, an initiative that received the support of the CDS-PP and the Liberal Initiative.

This request from Chega was intended to hold a series of hearings with the Ombudsman, the Bar Association, the Homeland Security Review Board and others “regarding AIMA’s slowness in making decisions on requests for authorization/renewal of residence permits and family reunification.”