The problems of immigration: "You feel like an island in an ocean of paperwork"

Barcelona"You feel like an island when you migrate, in the middle of an ocean of red tape." Tatiana Cárdenas, a recently naturalized Colombian citizen, used this phrase to describe the shortcomings of the reception system and support services for the new wave of immigration. A report presented this Thursday by the Third Sector Roundtable, based on data and interviews, fully echoes her words, describing the system as outdated, overly rigid, and bureaucratic for the diverse needs and profiles of the people arriving in this wave of migration that has brought Catalonia's population to eight million. Cárdenas's sentiment is common among immigrants who have no alternative but to enter the country irregularly because the legal route is nonexistent: they encounter obstacles ranging from the impossibility of registering with the local authorities to being unable to work legally or study beyond compulsory education because of the law regarding irregular status. Cárdenas admits that she was "privileged" because she entered the country as a companion thanks to her husband's employment contract, but even so, she couldn't avoid the obstacle course of ceasing to be isolated and integrating into the community. Cárdenas, currently an active member of Fedelatina and self-employed, complained that the reception system forces migrants to "solve everything at once." The Catalan language course, registering with the local council, earning a living during the years of irregular status to survive, finding housing... "You have to keep checking boxes, but you can't wait until you have a good level of language to start working," she argues. Beside her, Venezuelan Jaime Samuel Vergara also raises the difficulties faced by international asylum seekers, and the young Moroccan woman Hiba Jaoui gives voice to the life of a minor who arrived alone and has been placed under guardianship. She is now studying for a vocational qualification and says she feels supported, but she also remembers the "racism" she suffered at the reception center.

These three diverse personal experiences illustrate, in the first person Opening doors, building the future: welcoming people of migrant origin in Catalonia as a guarantee of rights, The new report from the Third Sector Roundtable, authored by sociologist Sònia Parella, coordinator of CER-Migrations at the UAB (Autonomous University of Barcelona), was presented at a colloquium moderated by Elena Freixa, deputy director of the ARA (Aragon Refugee Agency). The study analyzes the evolution of the migrant population and concludes that it is necessary to reform the reception system to adapt it to the needs of the new migration.

System under strain

Pareja emphasized the extreme vulnerability of these individuals, ranging from children without role models to retired seniors or those fleeing violence in their home countries in search of protection. Although 800,000 people have arrived in the last decade, reception services have not been scaled up and the system is strained, with waiting lists for Catalan language classes and interminable delays in paperwork due to the impossibility of securing an available appointment for residency renewals or applications. To design a more dynamic system, the sociologist advocates integrating community resources (organizations, municipal activities) to help newcomers build connections. The limitations of the Immigration Law and the refusal of many municipalities to register people without rental agreements or who are squatting are major obstacles, Pareja points out in her analysis. She argues for moving beyond a purely labor-based approach to regularizing migration and progressing towards promoting social and political participation. In his address, the Speaker of the Assembly, Xavier Trabado Farré, insisted that "Catalonia has already integrated" immigration, referring to the Spanish immigrants who arrived in the last century. In fact, three out of four Catalans have immigrant roots.