The Government lowers Junts' expectations in the transfer of immigration powers

The PSOE has given Junts, to carry out the first key vote of the legislature, a commitment to delegate, through a law, powers regarding immigration to the Generalitat, but the demand is complex and unclear. Junts assures that it wants the Generalitat to be able to expel repeat immigrants, control migratory flows or manage residence permits. But the Government, without categorically denying these extremes to avoid a conflict with a key partner, lowers expectations in public and private about that possibility.

The only thing that has been agreed between the PSOE and Junts, for the moment, is to make an organic law, which will have to be agreed with all the majority groups to reach 176 votes and will take months of negotiation, in which the “full delegation of immigration powers and resources” through the path opened by article 150.2 of the Constitution. 149 says that immigration is the exclusive competence of the central Administration, but 150.2 allows almost any competence to be delegated through a law.

The agreement only says that, and in the negotiation, according to socialist sources, there was no talk of expulsion or borders or residence permits, everything was left to the subsequent discussion on the law. When they asked him directly in La Sexta To one of the negotiators, the first vice president, María Jesús Montero, if they are going to allow Catalonia to expel immigrants, she avoided a resounding no, but reduced expectations: “It is risky to raise any issue because we still have long months of discussion to go, not only with Junts, but with the rest of the groups,” he stated. When asked live whether other communities could demand the same, the vice president responded: “No one has asked for it.”

From Montero's words and from conversations with government sources it can be deduced that the only thing clear today is that a new law will be drafted without anyone being clear about its content. When asked, the ministries of the Interior and Migration, the ones that concentrate the most immigration powers, have referred to the words of Bolaños and Montero. “The announcement has caught many by surprise,” maintains a ministerial source.

While the PSOE was betting on containment, Junts representatives dedicated Thursday morning to outlining their immigration aspirations in statements that have sowed even more doubts about their viability. The general secretary of the party, Jordi Turull, has said that they want the Generalitat, now governed by ERC, the authority to expel immigrants who repeat multiple crimes. They also want to influence migration flows. Junts spokesperson in Congress, Míriam Nogueras, also added that the agreement must include the management of residence permits.

Catalonia is the second autonomous community with the highest percentage of foreigners, only behind the Balearic Islands. There are more than 1.4 million people who represent 18% of the total population (in Spain the foreign population represents 17%). The Moroccan community is the largest, followed by the Romanian and the Italian.

Competition in immigration is at the state level, although the different statutes of autonomy have been opening ways through which communities participate, to a greater or lesser extent, in immigration policy. Most autonomies have taken measures for the social and labor integration of immigrants within the framework of their powers, although some, such as Catalonia and Andalusia, have gone further. Both manage the processing of initial work authorizations for foreigners whose employment relationship takes place in their territory. This does not mean that they apply their own criteria to grant permits, but rather that they take care of their processing. Catalonia also assumes the first reception of foreigners. It does not offer resources to live in, a state competence, but it does offer advice, training or language courses, a fairly basic attribution.

The powers over the work authorizations of Catalonia and Andalusia were appealed by Esperanza Aguirre, then president of the Community of Madrid, before the Supreme Court in 2009. But, two years later, the high court rejected the appeal. Also the ruling of the Constitutional Court that analyzed the reform of the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia endorsed this attribution because it considered that it was limited to the labor sphere and did not condition the state's competence in matters of entry and residence of foreigners.

The pact with Junts speaks of “comprehensive delegation of powers and resources in immigration”, but the field that opens up is unknown, even for those who now have to work on crystallizing the agreement on paper. When Bolaños and Montero clear the air on the issue, it is not because they do not want to respond, but because there are many doubts about how the agreement can be finalized, according to Administration sources. “We are studying what type of powers can be delegated. It is not clear,” they explain.

Junts' aspiration to expel immigrants who repeat multiple crimes is a responsibility of the Ministry of the Interior, which, furthermore, is only executed based on judicial decisions. It does not seem feasible that the Generalitat can assume its own expulsion policy, nor decide on the Foreigner Internment Centers (CIE). Ferran Camas, director of the Immigration Chair at the University of Girona, doubts that Junts' claims have a constitutional fit. “The power to expel resides in the State, in the orders issued by the Government subdelegations and the police and in judicial decisions. The autonomous communities cannot decide on a matter that is typical of the principle of state sovereignty and that can also affect the fundamental freedoms of people,” he explains.

Camas also does not see it clear that the Generalitat can assume the management of residence authorizations, as it already does with work authorizations. “Unlike an initial work authorization, which is limited to a specific territory, a residence permit gives the foreigner the freedom to reside not only in Catalonia but throughout the territory, with the same rights and duties. Will the residence authorizations granted by Catalonia only be valid in Catalonia? I would say that authorizations cannot be granted for a single autonomous community.” Sources from the Administration suggest that perhaps there could be talk of giving Catalonia “executive powers” ​​in the renewals of work and residence authorizations, a function that now depends on the Immigration offices, but no one dares to affirm that this is possible.

Nogueras has referred to the fact that the agreement aims to “manage migratory flows”, although it is not clear how this can be done when freedom of movement through Spanish territory is guaranteed even for immigrants in an irregular situation. In the case of asylum seekers it may be more viable. The study and granting of requests for international protection is and will be a national competence, but the reception of those who arrive in Spain asking for refuge, also in the hands of the State, has more room for negotiation. The case of the Ba
sque Country can illustrate this. To support the investiture of Pedro Sánchez, the PNV agreed with the PSOE on a small concession on immigration matters. Specifically, he wants the transfer of competence and the corresponding financing of the last phase of welcoming refugees. At this stage, the so-called autonomy phase, asylum seekers are already recognized as refugees and live more or less independently in housing and not in reception centres; They work and prepare for total autonomy. “It makes perfect sense that we assume the entire management of a phase that is accompanied by an integration process in the place where the refugees settle and in which the autonomous community already participates,” explains the Director of Migration and Asylum of the Basque Government Xabier Legarreta. Although small, this is one of the priority transfers claimed by the PNV in its agreement and is still under negotiation. Precisely this Thursday, the Lehendakari, Iñigo Urkullu, asked the Government to “express” that commitment now. Junts, however, has not made clear what it wants or why.

Carles Puigdemont's party has been toughening its tone on immigration matters for months. Last December, Junts put emphasis on some altercations and coexistence conflicts registered in some Catalan municipalities to stir up the discourse of citizen insecurity. It is their political strategy to wear down the ERC Government and compete for the votes of the right, such as Vox and Aliança Catalana in Ripoll, which have normalized Islamophobic speeches.

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