PS fears that the government will create new problems in the processes of regularization of immigrants

This Monday, the Secretary General of the PS considered the government’s migration plan “uncertain” and warned that ending the legal entity for expression of interest would create a legal “void” and new problems that would make it difficult to legalize immigrants.

The warning was conveyed by Pedro Nuno Santos at a press conference after Prime Minister Luis Montenegro presented the government’s main measures to strengthen migration regulation.

With Socialist parliamentary leader Alexandru Leitan and parliamentary party deputy Pedro Delgado Alves on his side, Pedro Nuno Santos began by questioning the success of changes to the Aliens Act in controlling migration flows, arguing against precisely in “labor market regulation and inspection measures can have the greatest effect.”

Regarding the government’s plan, the PS Secretary General said that “the objectives of strengthening the resources of AIMA (Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum) and consular services should be pursued.”

“But the greatest concrete measure of this plan is the end [na lei de estrangeiros] manifestations of the interests of a legal entity. This concept aims to regularize the situation of workers who have already worked in Portugal for at least one year, have an employment contract and benefit from social security discounts. Now the immediate end of this legal figure will leave a void. We may be creating problems for the future when workers work, pay money, but have no way to regulate themselves,” the socialist leader warned in his opening remarks.

At this point, he left the question: “How should a country treat someone who has been working in Portugal for more than a year, who has an employment contract and social security discounts? The truth is that the government does not respond and does not foresee that the strengthening of consular services will be enough to put an end to this legal figure,” he added.

Pedro Nuno Santos, in front of journalists, rejected the connection between this legal figure and the presence of about 400 thousand cases pending at AIMA, and did not rule out an absolute revision of the law on foreigners.

“But we don’t want people to believe that it is through legislative changes that we will be able to control migration flows,” he emphasized.

The PS general secretary considered the plan presented by the government to be “vague” in most of the areas it covers, with no quantification and no calendars, “although it is specific regarding the end of expressions of interest.”

“In the plan, we do not present measures to strengthen control over compliance with labor laws, especially with regard to the supervision of labor contracts and service enterprises, in order to combat enterprises and fictitious contracts and works. The plan says nothing about jobs. the market is the central area, he noted.

Asked about the PS’s assessment of the functioning of AIMA, Pedro Nuno Santos said that over the past few years, socialist governments have been “responding to the often vociferous demands of the national business sector regarding the need for foreign workers in Portugal.”

“Institutions have their time and AIMA already has a plan to address the outstanding issues. This government has announced increased resources to address outstanding issues, although it has not set a deadline. So part of the government’s statement looks good, but it’s not. new, and new may bring additional problems for foreign workers,” he said.

According to the Migration Action Plan, approved today by the Council of Ministers, “the Unit for Foreigners and Borders (UEF) was created in the PSP, giving it the powers of border control, returns (today AIMA) and inspections in the national territory.”

This Migration Action Plan of the Portuguese Government also envisages the conversion of the current mobile visa for immigrants from the Community of Portuguese-Language Countries (CPLP) into a Community (Schengen) visa, which allows them to travel within the European Union.

At the press conference, among other measures, the Prime Minister announced the abolition of the exceptional regime that allowed a foreigner to enter Portugal and only then apply for a residence permit. Shortly thereafter, Presidential Minister António Leitan Amaro announced that a mission structure would be created to streamline ongoing processes, with an estimated strength of 400,000 people.