Política de imigração: A regulação dos fluxos

Abstract

The main goal of this article is to analyze the ways in which the various governments since Portugal’s accession to the European Community have regulated immigration, and the objectives they proposed to achieve. The work is essentially based on the analysis of two sets of documents, namely, legal documents that frame the entrance of non-Community migrants into national territory, as well as legal documents that establish special periods for the registration of illegal foreigners; and governmental interventions in Parliament related to the presentation of requests for legal authorization of the entrance of non-Community foreigners into the country and the launching of campaigns for the legalization of illegal foreigners. Based on an analysis of these documents, the author argues that policies for the regulation of fluxes have never achieved their aims, and that the regulation system has met with successive failures, leading to the need to set up special periods for legalization.

Keywords

• European Union
• immigration
• illegal immigration
• immigration policy
• migratory policy
• Portugal