In the only debate broadcast on television among the eight leaders of the parties with parliamentary representation, immigration was a hot issue, after the government announced plans to He expels about 18,000 immigrants from the country In an irregular situation.
The AD leader was the objective of criticism from the left to the right, and the parties accused him of “electoralism” and “propaganda” in a dispute for arrival voters.
In the counterattack, Luís Montenegro held the PS and the governments of António Costa responsible for the situation that the country reached. According to the social democratic leader, the PS left the country in a situation of “Borsedia”With 400,000 immigrants to regularize, and with open doors, without knowing with certainty who entered and who remained in the country.
“What is happening today is the process of regularization and normalization of immigrants,” he said, accusing the PS leader, Pedro Nuno Santos, to walk the Zigzags on this subjectAfter admitting that the PS government of the coast did not do everything right and that the manifestation of interest was no longer a useful mechanism at this time.
“The law is to comply with Zig, defender of the Triunción, the manifestation of interest is to stay-zig, we did not do everything that well defended,” said Montenegro, in a criticism of the Socialist General Secretary.
Around 18,000 illegal immigrants will be deported
The government confirmed last Saturday that 4574 people have already been notified to leave the country by the Integration, Migration and Asylum Agency (Aima). Around 3800 were rejected because they found illegality in another Member State of the European Union.
According to the presidential minister, António Leitão Amaro, is a “first group” of immigrants who have already seen their requests for permanence in the country, a group that will be part of a List of 18 thousand people “with already determined rejections”. The rest must be notified very soon.
“We will reach the following weeks 18,000,” Leitão Amaro warned.
According to the minister, these people already notified now have 20 days to voluntarily abandon the country. “The country’s abandonment plan is 20 days,” he said. If they do not, a deportation process will be followed.
For the Luís Montenegro Executive, with this it is shown that “the policy became Regulated immigration“.” Basically, we are talking about cases of people who, whether they had orders to leave Europe through other European countries, or who had prohibitions of entry, or criminal situations have been identified in their records, which makes it unfeasible, in the light of the Portuguese law, which are granted residence permits and must be notified to leave, “said Leitão Amaro.
Of these 18,000 rejections of demonstrations of interest that generate notifications of abandonment of the national territory, 75% (13,393) are immigrants from the Indian subcontinent (Most India and Bangladesh, being the rest of Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka).
Less than 2.5%, (449) are from African countries that speak Portuguese (Palop), almost inexpressive are Mozambique and Cape Green. Already 7%, 1209, are from other African countries (not lusophones, especially Maghreb). The rest are from Latin America and Asia.
In 2024, the number of foreign citizens in Portugal was approximately 1.6 million, as revealed by Aita’s provisional report. Since 2016, the number of notifications has decreased year after year (with the exception of 2019), although the number of foreign citizens has been growing sharply.
With the creation of the regime of the demonstration of interest in 2017 and, later, in 2019, with the alteration of this regime that began to regularize foreign citizens in an illegal situation in the national territory, the number of foreign citizens who reside in Portugal grew by just over 400,000 to the current ones almost 1.6 million.
However, return notifications were reduced: from 2019 to 2024 they were one tenth; When the number of foreigners almost tripled. In 2024 there were only 447 notifications.
ADVERTISINGMore than 170,000 immigrants at risk of expulsion due to lack of tariffs
The numbers may not be here, since around 110,000 demands are processed. And, in addition, more than 171,000 immigrants who expressed the intention to legally reside in Portugal saw their Extinct regularization processes because they did not pay the mandatory rates Required by the Integration, Migration and Asylum Agency (Aima).
The information, advanced by NewspaperIt reveals that these foreign citizens, corresponding to 43% of the approximately 440,000 applicants who expected legalization, now the Country deportation risk If they are located by the authorities.
The more than 171,000 immigrants whose demands were automatically presented due to the lack of payment of the necessary rate for the procedures now face a situation of irregularity without the possibility of legalization, at least in the process initiated.
The rate in question varies according to the applicant’s nationality. For citizens of Brazil and of African countries of the official Portuguese language (Palop)The value does not exceed 57 euros. For applicants from other origins, the rate can amount to 397 euros.
ADVERTISINGAccording to the JN, among the thousands who have failed this payment will be immigrants in financial vulnerability, but also many who have not received any notification for this purpose because they no longer live in the direction indicated in the process or, however, Portugal will have left to establish themselves in other European countries.
