The Spanish Bishops have reiterated their call for the legalization of over half a million irregular migrants, urging the country's main political parties, the PSOE and PP, to take action.
The Spanish Bishops have renewed their call for the country’s main political parties -- the Socialist PSOE and the conservative Popular Party -- to address the status of over half a million irregular migrants. This initiative, stemming from a popular legislative request submitted to the Spanish Congress over a year ago with 600,000 signatures, has received strong support from Spanish churches.
Monsignor Luis Arguello, President of the Spanish Episcopal Conference (CEE), expressed his willingness to mediate between political parties to ensure the initiative's approval. In his opening speech at the Bishops’ plenary assembly in Madrid this week, he underscored the urgency of the matter.
Read AlsoSpain: Migrants affected by Valencia floods to receive legal status
'Thousands of persons in a judicial and existential limbo'
The legislative proposal has remained stalled in Congress due to modifications in the regulations governing Spain’s Foreigners Law. At a press conference covered by Spanish media, including La Razón, Arguello highlighted the consequences of inaction.
"The regulation will leave out, in a situation of existential and judicial limbo, thousands of persons, for example those who do not have the prerequisite of two years of permanence" on Spanish soil or "persons who cannot prove beyond reasonable doubt their permanence during this period," stated the President of the CEE.
Read AlsoSpain: Parliament votes to consider regularizing undocumented migrants
The agreement would be 'an exercise of democratic regeneration'
Arguello questioned the moral responsibility of policymakers: "Faced with these thousands of people -- especially children, the sick, and workers -- what should we do? Expel them all, or find a way to regularize their situation?" He urged PSOE and PP to reach a consensus, describing such an agreement as "an exercise in democratic regeneration."
The President of the CEE offered to mediate between the two political parties, PSOE and PP, assuring that an agreement on an amnesty would be "an exercise of democratic regeneration".
In addition to the migration issue, Arguello criticized the European re-arming campaign and the violation of the international rights in armed conflicts.
Read AlsoSpain: Draft immigration law, handing powers to regions, one step closer to approval