The leader of Chega, André Ventura, expressed approval of the enactment of the foreigners’ law during a statement to journalists at the Assembly of the Republic. He argued that the “President of the Republic should not be an obstacle to necessary reforms,” regarding immigration control as one such reform.
Ventura insisted that the “commitment with the Government,” which facilitated the approval of the foreigners’ law, included a stipulation to legislate against immigrants coming to Portugal merely to benefit from social support, and to set a “minimum number of years of contribution [by an immigrant] to access social benefits.” The Government has denied such an agreement.
“This is, after all, what happens with our emigrants in many parts of the world, in many countries where they reside. Therefore, it is a matter of basic fairness that those who arrive in Portugal should contribute before receiving benefits,” he added.
Ventura further stated that this agreement with the Government parties also assumes legislation to curb “health tourism,” by requiring newcomers to have insurance covering healthcare expenses or creating a “compensation mechanism from [origin] countries to Portugal.”
The Chega leader emphasized that Portugal cannot “continue having thousands of foreigners coming to Portugal for treatment, benefiting from the investment in the National Health Service” without being able to “charge these amounts either to the individuals or to their home countries.”
“We acknowledge this step, but much more needs to be done on this issue. We pursued this, I repeat, based on the expectation that the Government, or the majority supporting it, would address Chega’s concerns, especially in these two areas,” he reinforced.
André Ventura stated that this law does not affect the nationality law but indicates “what needs to be worked on now,” such as the expulsion of those who commit serious crimes.
Following the approval of the new version of the foreigners’ law in parliament, Chega claimed there was a government commitment to limit immigrants’ access to social support, a claim denied by António Leitão Amaro, the Minister of the Presidency.
“The Government has not assumed any commitment, now or in the future, to restrict the access of immigrants to social benefits,” responded the Presidency minister.
In a statement released today, President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa justified the enactment of the foreigners’ law by noting that the parliamentary decree was “revised and approved by 70% of the deputies,” and asserting that it “minimally addresses the essential constitutional concerns raised by him and confirmed by the Constitutional Court.”
The new legal framework governing the entry, stay, exit, and expulsion of foreigners from national territory was approved in plenary on September 30 with support from PSD, CDS-PP, Chega, IL, and JPP, against votes from PS, Livre, PCP, BE, and PAN, after the Constitutional Court rejected five provisions of the previous decree in August.
PS, Livre, PCP, BE, PAN, and the sole JPP deputy had voted against the initial version, approved on July 16 with the support of PSD, Chega, and CDS-PP, from which IL abstained. The decree was developed from a government proposal by PSD/CDS-PP and a legislative project by Chega.
