We can maintain the veto on the transfer of powers in immigration despite Junts' gesture

MadridWith the Ceuta crisis, immigration has become the central issue of Spanish politics. In this context, Junts has once again brought up the transfer of powers in this matter to the Generalitat. For the Junts members, who consider that Catalonia does not have the capacity to increase its population further, it is necessary for the Catalan government to manage the entry, integration, or expulsion of immigrants. The initiative failed in Congress due to Podem's opposition, but this Tuesday Junts has re-registered it with a gesture towards Ione Belarra's party: it has changed the preamble, which Podem considered "racist". A change that does not resolve the discrepancies with Podem, as it maintains the veto arguing that the problem is the norm as a whole.

In a press conference at Congress, Nogueras justified that they have changed the statement of reasons for a "technical" description of Article 150.2 of the Constitution, which is used to delegate State powers to the autonomies, and which must be activated for this case. "We will not get into the mud, we have removed the statement of reasons, therefore, today Podem has no excuse not to vote for the law," said Nogueras.

Podem, however, has interpreted the change as a "pressure" measure, because it learned of the decision, it said, through the media. Thus, it replied that the explanatory memorandum is not "the only problem" of the delegation of powers. "It cannot have a security-based immigration control approach. It is a mistake and it is racist," he assured at a press conference, as he argues that what is being transferred is the immigration law, which is now managed by the State, and that this law facilitates "racist raids." For Podem, if the Mossos were to assume these powers now, police pressure would increase towards immigrants because it would imply increasing the agents in the Principality who are now de facto dedicated to this de facto, as explained in an interview with ARA.

In this regard, they condition a change in position on the guarantee that the norm will not be used to carry out more identifications of racialized people in Catalonia and, at the same time, that the transfer of powers will not be linked to an increase in Mossos agents, as the norm foresees, because it implies a punitive approach to the issue. Conditions that sources from Podem assure are also not accepted by the PSOE, which agreed the law with Junts, since when they sent them the proposal at the beginning of the year, they did not receive a positive response.