Illegal migrants in Spain with criminal records may still benefit from the Spanish government’s mass amnesty thanks to new changes in the country’s immigration regulations, the newspaper El Mundo reported on Friday.
The socialist government led by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez signed on Tuesday its mass amnesty Royal Decree to grant legal status to half a million illegal migrants living in Spain — provided they comply with a notably lax list of requirements, one of which states that the migrant must have “no criminal record and do not pose a threat to public order, public safety, or public health.”
El Mundo reports that the mass amnesty decree, published at the Official State Gazette on Wednesday that the decree comes alongside reforms to the Spanish immigration rules which read, “The mere presence of a criminal record in the police report shall not, in and of itself, automatically constitute grounds for denying authorization.”
El Mundo explained that the Inclusion Ministry’s Immigration Case Processing Unit (UTEX) is the office in charge of certifying that a migrant does not “pose a threat to public order, public safety, or public health” through the individual’s the criminal record and “the assessment of the relevant police report.”
The newspaper expressed concerns over the procedure over the specific clause that states that the presence of a criminal record shall not constitute grounds for denial, as UTEX, upon reviewing the migrant’s criminal record, is the institution that ultimately determines if the individual poses a “threat” or not to public order.
The regulations state that the assessment will be carried out “on a case-by-case basis and in detail,” examining the specific circumstances of each individual case.
Inclusion Ministry sources told El Mundo that”the operational capacity and management resources have been scaled up” to handle the number of applications received and that they are “prepared” to implement this exceptional measure in a “streamlined” and “timely” manner.
The mass amnesty decree officially went into effect on Thursday, April 16. As per the terms of the decree, the application window will run until June 30.
“Regularization isn’t just necessary — it’s fair. It means acknowledging a reality that already exists. It means ensuring rights and responsibilities, dignity, and social cohesion,” Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said through a Thursday night social media post.
“We continue working to improve people’s lives,” he continued.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court of Spain rejected a request for an urgent injunction against the mass amnesty decree presented by the Spanish non-profit Association for Reconciliation and Historical Truth. The court ruled that there are “no circumstances of particular urgency” warranting the adoption of the requested emergency injunction and instructed that the preliminary injunction proceeding be handled through the ordinary procedure, granting the Spanish government a 10-day period to file a response.
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