The number of illegal immigrants arriving in Spain has dropped by 50% and requests for residency permits is down.It is possible that the economic crisis and also the tougher immigration policies which the Spanish government have put in place have caused this downturn in the number of immigrants arriving in Spain.
Since 1998 the number of immigrants has risen each year ,but in 2008 the numbers began to drop and there were 50,000 less residency permits applied for.It is a good thing that the number arriving in small boats from Africa has gone down as many people lost their lives in the process.
Some of the new policies involve voluntary return programmes,whereby the immigrant is given financial aid to return to their country of origin.There is now a limit on the number of family members who are permitted to come into the country and it excludes parents and in-laws.There is also the very contoversial policy of rounding up a certain number of illegals each week .
The government in Spain has explained that the tougher policies are due to the economic situation and most organisations agree that this has to be done.They want to improve the integration of legal immigrants,make sure that they are able to work.Those who employ illegal immigrants from here in will have heavy fines imposed .
Another interesting move is the Home Office’s Foreign Delinquents Expulsion Brigade which is in charge of investigating crimes committed by foreigners.
