Immigration deserves consensus

The government has pulled the Popular Legislative Initiative (ILP), which proposes the regularization of some 500,000 immigrants and had been stuck in Congress for a year, out of the drawer. Now, it's urgent to correct the errors in the Immigration Regulations, which came into effect yesterday and could leave thousands of immigrants who have applied for asylum in legal limbo. According to the government's own estimates, this number totals more than 200,000.

This fact demonstrates that something has been done wrong in the regulations drafted by the Ministry of Migration, and that some NGOs have taken to the Supreme Court due to the defenselessness it leaves many migrants who have been living in Spain for years and who will not be able to obtain work or residence permits. The situation could lead thousands of immigrants into dangerous irregular status that is difficult to resolve. Hence, the Government, citing economic and business needs, has decided to dust off the ILP (Law on Migration and Development) that was approved last year in Congress with the approval of all groups, with the exception of Vox.

The Episcopal Conference has asked the parties to make a "courageous and positive gesture."

This is not the first time Spain has implemented extraordinary immigration regularizations. The first was promoted in 1986 by Felipe González. Since then, there have been five more, the most significant being the three approved during José María Aznar's administration. The last was in 2005 under José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. But at that time, neither Vox nor the Catalan Alliance, with its clearly xenophobic rhetoric, had representation in the institutions.

Immigration is now one of the main topics of discussion on the political agenda and the sixth most pressing issue for Spaniards, according to the latest CIS survey. The distribution of migrant minors from the Canary Islands, Ceuta, and Melilla was a source of division in the regional coalition governments between the PP and Vox. The regions governed by the PP have taken this measure to the Constitutional Court, and Junts has agreed with the PSOE to transfer immigration powers so that Catalonia will manage them.

The People's Party (PP) has already warned that it will not give the government a "blank check," but it will have a difficult time rejecting the initiative. The ILP was presented by 700 social organizations with a strong cross-cutting approach and the presence of some Catholic associations. It has the support of the Episcopal Conference, which has called for a "courageous and positive gesture" from the political parties to approve the regularization of people who "live in no man's land." Perhaps it is time to reach a political agreement between the PP and PSOE on immigration that does not condemn thousands of people to social exclusion.