Government challenges Chega to make changes to diplomas viable to “regulate immigration”

The Minister of the Presidency today challenged Chega to approve the changes to the laws on nationality and foreigners proposed by the Government to regulate immigration, with André Ventura accusing the executive of “selling its soul to the PS”.

“I hope that Chega will finally contribute with its vote so that there is serious regulation of immigration in Portugal”, said António Leitão Amaro, during an urgent debate in parliament, scheduled by Chega, entitled “lack of control in the attribution of nationality and the need to limit family reunification”.

The minister noted that the Government today submitted three bills to the Assembly of the Republic, which will be discussed “next week”.

António Leitão Amaro considered that “the time has finally come for Chega to be able to contribute with its vote so that there is at least one rule, one solution, that better controls immigration in Portugal”.

The Chega leader argued that his party “has wanted to control immigration since day one”, while the PSD, “afraid that the political center would be lost, sold its soul to the PS” and considered that both the last PS and PSD governments were “lax in terms of immigration control”.

At the opening of the debate, the president of Chega questioned the Government as to whether or not it “will prevent the continuation of family reunification in Portugal”, considering that the “numbers are alarming” and “must be stopped, whatever the cost”.

Ventura also asked the Minister of the Presidency not to bring “empty and hollow talk” to the debate and “tell the Portuguese people face to face what and how he is going to do it”.

“Who will really lose their nationality after committing crimes in Portuguese territory? Are we going to end asylum benefits for those who come here, for those who are refused entry and end up receiving support from Social Security for months? Are we going to audit AIMA to ensure that all criminal authorizations given to enter Portugal in recent years are properly investigated?” he asked.

“This is Chega’s challenge, this is the challenge of a nation that wants to see a problem that the left created resolved once and for all, but that now falls to the right to resolve. The time was not yesterday, it is today, the time to act is now,” said the Chega leader.