Portugal’s Top Court Blocks Bill Restricting Immigration

Portugal’s Constitutional Court has blocked a bill approved by the right-wing parliamentary majority that was designed to limit the inflow of immigrants, citing obstacles it creates for family members in joining immigrants legally resident in Portugal.

Immediately after late Friday’s decision, President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa sent the bill back to parliament, which is on recess until September. Last month, the president told the court to check the document for potential infringements of the principles of equality, proportionality and legal security.

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The bill would have made hundreds of thousands of migrants legally resident in Portugal wait for two years before they could request permission for immediate family members to join them. Only highly-skilled workers and investors with special residence permits would be exempt.

The court ruled that the bill was “likely to lead to the separation of family members” of foreign citizens legally resident in Portugal, which it said would be a “violation of the rights enshrined in the constitution”.

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