Junts will limit Pedro Sánchez's mass regularization of migrants

MadridAt the beginning of the year, the PSOE and Podemos parties agreed on a mass regularization of migrants to grant legal status to half a million people already living in Spain. They did so by drafting immigration regulations to avoid having to go through Congress, where they would have struggled to secure a majority to pass them. However, the PP has found a loophole to try to influence the Senate through the law on repeat offenses, promoted by Junts and approved last week in the upper house. The PP pushed for an amendment to toughen the conditions for the regularization of migrants, and, as ARA has learned, Junts will vote in favor this Thursday in the final vote in Congress. The regularization will still go ahead, but controls for obtaining a residence permit will be increased.

What does this change entail? The Senate added to the text of the law on multiple recidivism that, within the framework of regularization, migrant applicants must demonstrate through an official document that they have no criminal record. In the regulations promoted by the Spanish government and Podemos, this was not an essential requirement because, in the absence of an official document—for example, due to a lack of response from the countries of origin— Submitting a declaration of responsibility would be sufficient. that assures, on the part of the applicant, that he has no criminal record.

The amendment, promoted by the PP and supported by Junts and Vox, states the following: "All residence permits will require that the applicant have no criminal record [...] and that they are not listed as inadmissible in the territory of countries with which Spain has signed an agreement to this effect." It adds, unlike the regulations agreed upon between the PSOE and Podemos: "The absence of a criminal record must be proven by means of an official certificate issued by the competent authorities of the State or States of origin or previous residence [...]. Under no circumstances may the impossibility of obtaining this certificate, the lack of response from foreign authorities, or administrative inactivity give rise to automatic presumptions of approval or the substitution of this requirement by other means such as sworn statements."

The same criteria apply if there is any pending criminal matter in the following cases: if there is a written accusation from the public prosecutor with prison sentences, if there is an opening of oral proceedings for crimes with imprisonment or if search and capture orders have been issued.

This legal provision, which has a higher regulatory standing than the regulation agreed upon between the Spanish government and Ione Belarra's party, would make the regularization process more difficult. What does the PSOE and Podemos proposal say now? Pedro Sánchez's royal decree specifies that having no criminal record is a requirement to access the exceptional regularization process. However, if official documentation from the country of origin or the country of residence for the last five years is not received, and a month passes without it, the decree states that the administration can obtain the information on its own. And, if this information is still not obtained, the current proposed regulation states that it would be sufficient to submit a sworn statement of no criminal record. "In this case, it will be understood that the interested party has no criminal record in the respective countries," says the text that the Spanish government opened for public comment in January.

This Sunday, the PP's Deputy Secretary for Institutional Regeneration, Cuca Gamarra, told Europa Press that she is confident of Junts' support in their attempt to limit the regularization of migrants. However, she expressed concern that the PSOE might engage in "parliamentary filibustering" or some other maneuver to prevent it. "The government is proposing migrant regularization processes without any security controls. But if there is a parliamentary majority that holds a different position, it must respect that and incorporate it into the law," she stated.

Junts' support for this PP amendment will also entail additional controls, such as the denial of the application if the migrant has a final conviction as a repeat offender. However, it is also made clear that appearing in police records will not be per se reason for denial of residency. The future law on multiple recidivism states that "the mere existence of police records cannot in itself justify a denial decision if they originate from an identification procedure that did not lead to an arrest," it explains.

The amendment that will not be approved in Congress, but was introduced in the Senate, is one proposed by Vox that aims to have the Spanish government sign agreements with other states so that repeat offenders are deported and serve their sentences in their country of origin. In this case, Junts will vote against it.

Immigration skills

All these changes will be introduced into the law against repeat offenders, a bill championed by Junts and supported in the Spanish Parliament by the PSOE, PP, Vox, and PNV. In fact, its passage—shelved for months—was a gesture from the Socialists to Carles Puigdemont's party. With Thursday's vote in Congress, Junts's vote will once again clash with the demands of Podemos, which previously blocked in the Spanish Parliament the delegation of immigration powers to the Catalan government, a measure crucial to Junts's position.

The mass regularization of migrants, orchestrated between Belarra's party and the PSOE, had opened the door for Podemos to negotiate Junts' proposal to delegate powers, which they had previously considered "racist." However, according to informed sources, this path has so far stalled. Podemos has been working on a text with the Spanish government that modifies several elements of Junts' law, while Junts insists that the legislation be approved as presented, arguing that it is merely a "technical" delegation of powers to the Catalan government. The only point they are open to modifying is the preamble, which Podemos deems insufficient.