The Popular Party (PP) has instructed its partners to vote ‘no’ on the proposed reform of the Immigration Law, which is expected to be voted on this Tuesday in the Congress of Deputies. Following this decision, it seems unlikely that the reform will move forward.
This resolution came after a teleconference between the PP and the Ministry of Childhood on Monday. The government convened this meeting after receiving a rejection from Junts regarding their support for the reform. Initially, the PP was open to abstaining from the vote, provided certain conditions were met, such as the urgent convening of a Conference of Presidents and increased funding.
However, the situation soured for the opposition party when they learned that the government thought sending a Secretary of State and a Chief of Staff to persuade the PP would suffice. This perception led to a significant rift, extinguishing the potential for support that was already tenuous. Party spokesperson Borja Sémper indicated that the likelihood of cooperation was “very far” from realization, adding a sardonic wish of “good luck with your Junts partners” from within the party.
With this backdrop, the PSOE will rely solely on the votes from Sumar, ERC, PNV, EH Bildu, and Coalición Canaria. This coalition would yield a total of 165 votes in favor against 177 votes against, predominantly from the PP, Vox, and Junts, who oppose the reform due to its failure to exclude Catalonia from the distribution of migrants.
Consequently, the consideration of the reform will not advance. It’s important to differentiate this from outright approval. If the PP had chosen to abstain, the law could have proceeded in Congress, allowing time for amendments that had swayed other parties, including some Basque nationalists, to vote in favor. However, the rejection now brings that legislative process to a halt.
The government’s proposal aimed to amend Article 35 of the Immigration Law, specifically addressing unaccompanied minors. It planned to introduce the notion of “extraordinary migratory contingency,” particularly for the Canary Islands and the cities of Ceuta and Melilla. This measure was meant to facilitate a solidarity-based distribution of unaccompanied minors when their numbers exceeded 150% of the set capacity.
Under this framework, the Canary Islands would have been allocated 2,000 spots for unaccompanied minors, with a threshold of 3,000 to trigger assistance from other communities, each with a limit on how many minors they could accept. Ceuta and Melilla would have been allocated 132 and 249 spots, respectively. Given the urgency of the migratory crisis and the current 6,000 minors in the Canary Islands, a one-year deadline was proposed for redistributing these minors among the regions.
In summary, the political dynamics surrounding the Immigration Law reform have taken a serious turn, leaving the PSOE without essential support and leading to a standstill in addressing the pressing issues related to migration and unaccompanied minors in Spain.
Image and News Source: https://www.infobae.com/espana/2024/07/22/el-pp-votara-en-contra-de-la-reforma-de-la-ley-de-extranjeria-tras-reunirse-con-el-ministerio-de-infancia/
