“AIMA creates 1st and 2nd class immigrants, and the winners are the lawyers”, says jurist

Lawyers charge between 1,000 and 1,500 euros to go to court and guarantee service to their clients at the migration agency. Meanwhile, the poorest are left behind.

The inability of the Agency for Integration, Migration, and Asylum (AIMA) to serve immigrants in Portugal with the necessary speed has, according to lawyer Beatriz Sidrim, created first- and second-class citizens. She states that the main beneficiaries of this dismal situation are lawyers, who charge between 1,000 and 1,500 euros (approximately $6,000 to $9,000) to file lawsuits in court, allowing their clients to jump the queue for services. "Those who can afford to pay a lawyer get ahead, while the most vulnerable, who cannot, are left behind," Sidrim says, highlighting the immense social injustice at play.

This view is shared by Timóteo Macedo, from the Immigrant Solidarity Association. He reports cases of people who, after just four to eight months in Portugal, already have their documents, while thousands of immigrants have been waiting for AIMA services for over two years. Macedo believes that in a system where money speaks louder, many people are being left in difficult situations, as without proper documentation, they cannot access decent jobs or public services. He argues that state intervention is needed to change this reality.

Macedo, who visited Alentejo last Sunday to speak with immigrants working in agriculture, shared troubling stories. Many of these immigrants, who take temporary jobs like planting and harvesting, are abandoned on the streets when the work ends, with no support. Those without documentation are the ones who suffer the most, facing the risk of deportation with the potential creation of a border police unit, a proposal under review by the National Assembly.

Even lawyers acknowledge that AIMA's failure to serve immigrants—about 400,000 cases are pending—has created an industry of lawsuits in the Administrative and Tax Court, threatening the functioning of the justice system. Alfredo Roque, a lawyer with VE Legal Consultancy, noted that between the afternoon of October 16 (Wednesday) and the morning of October 17 (Thursday), 500 lawsuits were filed against AIMA. He warned that there is a risk of a collapse in the court.

Timóteo Macedo also notes that lawyers benefit on both sides. First, by defending immigrants who can afford to sue AIMA, and second, by providing services to AIMA itself, which hired a law firm to respond to legal claims for 200,000 euros (about $1.2 million). "Everything is wrong," Macedo says, as he organizes a large protest for October 25 in front of the National Assembly, advocating for the return of the "manifestation of interest," a process that allowed tourists in Portugal to express their desire to stay in the country, which was abolished by the government.

Beatriz Sidrim argues that AIMA should prioritize services for the most vulnerable immigrants, something she believes could be facilitated through associations that work with this population. The government has partnered with some of these organizations and, since September, has opened 10 of AIMA's 15 new service centers. With this additional infrastructure, the state has promised to eliminate the backlog by the end of the first half of next year. However, practical results have yet to be seen, as the lawyer acknowledges.

Fonte: www.publico.pt