Portugal News

President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa will meet with Chega's president, André Ventura, this Tuesday for an urgently requested meeting focused on the enactment of the new immigration law. The legislation, approved in Parliament with the favorable votes of the PSD, Chega, and CDS parties, is still awaiting presidential enactment, prompting criticism from Ventura, who accuses Marcelo of deliberately delaying the process.

The changes to the foreigners' law were approved in Parliament this Wednesday, with votes from the PSD, Chega and CDS, abstention from the Liberal Initiative and rejection from the entire left.

Family reunification becomes more difficult, and a police force is created to expel undocumented immigrants. During the session, there was widespread criticism of the lack of mandatory opinions and the government's haste.
 

The PS even tried, at the last minute, to have the law removed from the voting script, but the appeal fell on deaf ears.

The bill is expected to be finalized at the end of September.

Deputies from the right and left of parliament held a tense debate today in the Constitutional Affairs Committee regarding the experts and entities that should submit written opinions regarding the Government's proposed nationality law.

The bill that changes nationality is one of the Government's bills that requires urgent processing in parliament and, according to the PSD and CDS-PP, should be finalized in committee by September 28.

The Bill No. 1/XVII/1, which proposes substantial changes to the Nationality Law, will be discussed in the last plenary session of September, after the deputies return from the summer recess. The vote on the proposals will only take place in December.

The proposal provides, among other points:

Luís Montenegro's government has enough votes to finalize its proposal, supported by Chega and the Liberal Initiative. Petitioners accuse the government of violating the "principle of equality."

A group of citizens is asking, in a public petition , that Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa not enact the Government's proposed law that restricts the entry and stay of immigrants in the country.

The Constitutional Affairs Committee of the Assembly of the Republic approved last Friday, July 11, in detail, the amendments to the Foreigners Law, which now go to a final vote in plenary next Wednesday, July 16.

In an interview with TVI and CNN Portugal, the Chega leader highlighted the red lines for immigration and, regarding the controversy surrounding children's names, said he had information about school principals and parents' associations that confirmed situations of alleged injustice in access to education for Portuguese citizens.

The governor of the Bank of Portugal warned that without this mobility in the labor market, "we would have lost two-thirds of economic growth."

The Governor of the Bank of Portugal (BdP), Mário Centeno, warned on Wednesday that Portugal has no future without mobility and immigrants, at a time when Parliament is discussing new immigration laws. 

The PSD backtracked and agreed to extend the discussion of the Nationality Law until September. The agreement was reached this morning, September 9th, in the Committee on Rights, Freedoms, and Guarantees. The party agreed to hold hearings to hear experts on the matter, provided the process extends only until the third week of September.

According to Social Democratic MP António Rodrigues, the goal is to have the matter resolved before the State Budget debate begins, scheduled for early October. The committee's debate is heated, as was last Friday's plenary session.

The Government's proposals to amend the Nationality Law will be subject to discussion in detail, without a vote, as suggested by the Socialist Party on Thursday. Restrictions on immigration and the naturalization of foreigners were debated in the parliamentary chamber on Friday morning.

After tense debate, Portugal postpones vote on anti-immigration package. Parliament decides to endorse the government's request, which manages to avoid votes in the plenary and send projects to the committee to gain time and ʽunite the countryʼ.