Portugal’s constitutional court throws out law restricting immigration

Portugal’s constitutional court has thrown out a law passed by parliament’s right-wing majority that was designed to limit the flow of immigrants.

The reason judges gave was that the law created obstacles for family members joining immigrants legally resident in Portugal.

Following the decision, President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa sent the bill back to parliament, which is on summer recess until September.

In July, the president told the court to check the document for potential infringements of the principles of equality, proportionality and legal security.

The bill would have made hundreds of thousands of migrants legally resident in Portugal wait for two years before they could request permission for immediate family members to join them. Only highly-skilled workers and investors with special residence permits would be exempt according to the news source Reuters.

The government says it will now change the Foreigners Law declared unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court and try and get it passed again.