Portugal’s Secretary of State for Communities Emídio Sousa admits he is monitoring “with particular attention” recent anti-illegal immigration raids in areas with large concentrations of Portuguese nationals in the United States – while recognising Washington’s right to control migration flows.
Questioned by Lusa about the raids at the company of a Portuguese citizen in the US city of Newark, Sousa, who began a visit to the US today, said that “these situations are very worrying” and called for the regularisation of “situations of illegality”.
“Our Ministry and our Secretary of State, our consular services, normally monitor these different situations very closely, and we are watching this with particular attention.
“Naturally, we have to understand that situations of illegality have to be corrected, just as in our country, and we have to respect the United States in its desire to regularise the situation of immigrants and those who choose to live in the United States.”
“Let us hope that these raids do not greatly affect our emigrés or our companies. But we must understand that a sovereign country, such as the United States, has the right to control its immigration.”
A Portuguese-owned company located in Newark, New Jersey, was again the target of anti-illegal immigration raids on Wednesday. The situation has left the Portuguese community in the region apprehensive.
Dozens of agents, including those from ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation), entered Ocean Seafood Depot, a seafood company in Newark, in the north-east of the country.
The company is owned by Portuguese Luís Janota, and had already been raided in January this year, a few days after Donald Trump took office as President of the United States, promising the “largest mass deportation in history” in the country.
Witnesses told Lusa that agents entered the company separating the workers with regularised status from the rest, with those who were in a legal situation receiving a red bracelet and being allowed to leave the premises.
The rest were reportedly detained inside the commercial establishment and later taken away in vans with tinted windows, according to witnesses who did not want to be identified, and who also indicated that the agents had a list of people they were looking for.
Images captured at the scene showed police officers with their faces covered and no visible identification – a practice that has been recurrent on the part of ICE agents.
The Portuguese government said it plans to support Portuguese citizens who may be affected by the arrests as well as deportations carried out by the Trumpadministration.
Emídio Sousa indicated that legal assistance is being provided for the different cases that arise. “We try to respond to all Portuguese citizens who come to us, who register, and provide consular assistance – often supporting the repatriation process. I know that, especially in the autonomous regions, there are already specialised services for this assistance. We don’t have many reported cases on the mainland, but we will also be ready to provide it,” he told Lusa today, adding, that what he asks is that “whenever people emigrate, they try to do so legally.”
Newark, home to one of the largest Portuguese communities in the United States, is one of several “sanctuary cities” in the country, where local and state laws protect undocumented residents and provide refuge for people who have been unable to regularise their situations.
There has been an increase in arrests by ICE since Mr Trump began his second term, with reports of raids across the country.
In addition, there are cases of citizens holding Green Cards, legal permanent residence, who have been detained and entered into deportation proceedings.
Emídio Sousa’s visit will take him to New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, and is due to end next Wednesday.
Source: LUSA
