{"id":6055,"date":"2017-04-18T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-04-18T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/new.conectas.org.inf.br\/wp\/noticias\/new-immigration-law-passed-by-congress\/"},"modified":"2021-04-13T17:34:10","modified_gmt":"2021-04-13T17:34:10","slug":"new-immigration-law-passed-by-congress","status":"publish","type":"noticia","link":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/noticias\/new-immigration-law-passed-by-congress\/","title":"New Immigration Law passed by Congress","content":"

The Senate unanimously approved this evening, April 18, the Lower House Substitute Bill No. 7\/2016<\/u><\/a> that repeals the Foreigner Act, created during the military dictatorship, and replaces it with the new Immigration Law.<\/p>\n

Drafted by the former senator Aloysio Nunes, currently the Minister of Foreign Relations, the bill abandons the idea that immigration is a threat to national security and instead addresses it from a human rights perspective. The bill will now be sent to President Michel Temer to be signed into law.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday\u2019s approval is a decisive step towards making Brazil a reference and placing it at the forefront of the global debate on immigration. The Foreigner Act was not just outdated, it was also discriminatory. It urgently needed replacing and Congress was correct to pass a law that guarantees equal rights and protection for people who come to the country in search of a better life,\u201d said Camila Asano, coordinator of the Foreign Policy program at Conectas Human Rights.<\/p>\n

Last week, on April 9, more than 80 civil society organizations released a public statement<\/u><\/a> reinforcing their support for the bill. According to the document, the new law \u201cis consistent with a more just, free and democratic society\u201d and it \u201cmodernizes the system for receiving and registering immigrants\u201d.\u00a0It also emphasized that the law is the result of a broad process of public debate and a response to a long-term demand of the organizations.<\/p>\n

Click here<\/u><\/a> to read the public statement in full.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Two of the main changes introduced by the new Immigration Law are the simplification of the immigration regularization process and the institutionalization of the policy of humanitarian visas<\/u><\/a>, which is currently provisional and only available for Syrians and Haitians. This policy permits at-risk people to come to Brazil safely and, once here, apply for refugee status or some other form of international humanitarian protection.<\/p>\n

The text guarantees immigrants, among other things, the right to participate in protests, to join unions and to access education and healthcare services. The new law also puts an end to criminalization for immigration reasons \u2013 which means that immigrants cannot be detained simply for being undocumented.<\/p>\n