Next Tuesday, April 9, the Congress of Deputies of Spain will discuss the taking into consideration of the Popular Legislative Initiative (ILP) that would allow the regularization of more than 500,000 migrants living in Spain irregularly. More than 900 civil society organizations and movements have collected more than 700,000 signatures throughout the state over the course of a year. According to Spanish regulations, the popular signatures necessary to continue with the process are 500,000.

The taking into consideration is not definitive. It is the first step that regulates which ILP go to the ordinary process in the legislative chambers.

Currently, the ILP has the support of 13 of the 16 parties that make up the current Congress of Deputies, which have expressed their support for the initiative. However, it is expected that next Tuesday the three majority parties – Popular Party, Spanish Socialist Workers Party and Vox – will position themselves against the taking into consideration, thus ending the legislative journey of the entire ILP. A lack of respect for a democratic proposal that has the support of organizations from across the ideological and social spectrum. In the words of the promoters of the ILP: “from the Episcopal Conference to the Getafe Soviet.” And, what is also important, “that it is led by the migrants themselves.”

Taking it into consideration does not imply support, but it is a necessary step to present the reasons for a cause that we consider fair. Thus, we demand that the parties listen to the voice of the citizens who express themselves with the tools that the Constitution grants. The living conditions of half a million people who today live in extreme situations in Spain are at stake.

Jorge Serrano Paradinas – Alumnus of the International Academy of Catholic Leaders