Immigration as an Excuse for much more Security: The case of Spain

The Spanish transition to democracy, from 1978, has produced a huge number of changes either within the civil society or also inside the political system. It is absolute true that most of theses changes can be seen as completely positive and because this reason Spain is nowadays considered as one of the main members of the European Union. But, in spite of this, geographically speaking Spain belongs to the Euro Mediterranean area which has a particular significance regarding its competences in certain activities concerning the whole Union.

On the other hand, some very frequent social phenomena in democratized and developed societies, specially those strong rooted within post industrialized economies, had not yet being considered as important for the Spanish transformation by public opinion up to recent times. Immigration is certainly one of these phenomena and it can be said that it was discoveredby the Spaniards only recently, which is really astonishing because the Spanish society has being, particularly during and after Civil War an expelling one. During the middle of last Century, in fact, hundred of thousands Spaniards went to exile particularly towards American countries and on the other side another hundreds went as migrant workers to other European countries. Therefore, former Spanish generations have had the experience of leaving their homes and receiving hospitality elsewhere in the World. But, the arrival of people particularly coming from Latin American countries and the Maghreb from some years ago, and more recently from Eastern European countries, has provoked a sudden awake of new reactions in front of this unexpected presence. Speaking from an anthropological point of view it could be said that this unforeseen appearance has produced the emergence of rejection sentiments and exclusion demonstrations from local communities regarding those just arrived. Problems of otherness, differentness or alterity gave birth to particular attitudes in front of these arrivals which in certain rural areas of mono farming have degenerated in clear xenophobes reactions (Can Anglada, diciembre 1999; Ejido, enero 2000).

1.)From 1984 the Spanish State has consequently shown a clear concern regarding the requirement to establish an integrated regulation for different immigration situations inside its own borders (see Organic Law from July 1. of 1985). But, in any case these rules were approved under the title of Organic Law on Rights and Liberties of Foreigners(Ley Orgánica de Derechos y Libertades de los Extranjeros) which it does not translate the real meaning for a Law which has to rule different situations provoked by various problems related to migration processes. Actually, the Spanish word extranjero/extranjeríais much more related to the English concept of estranger or extraneous than to immigrate/immigration or migrant/migration. These last pair of words correspond to technical and legal terms usually applied to define or to mention different aspects of the social phenomena regarding a human action when a person moves from one place to settle in another. This last activity is the same that during millenniums has being the same for thousands of people who has been removed or they have decided to move from their birth places or from the lands where they have being working during long time. Immigration waves have produced big and positive transformations within societies which have received, taken in, gave refuge or welcome these hundred of thousands or millions of migrants, refugees or people looking for a new settlement. There are a number of historical cases which can be shown as examples of these situations, particularly along the nineteenth Century as consequences of industrialization. Despite conflicts between the new arrived and the local inhabitants or specially those named as second generation conflicts, integration of immigrants have always produced interesting results, on the work market and on multicultural combinations. The cases of Canada or the United States and of Argentina, in the northern and the southern part of America, are surely the more expressive ones of positive migrations, although subsequent but different developments.

But these examples belong to a certain and older kind of economical development, linked to the industrial capitalism era. When, after the disappearance of one of the two main representatives of the world divided in two blocks and global economy has became the only way to accumulate richness, then market strengths and its rules have substituted the State legal norms provoking a much more unbalanced system of social relationships. Consequent effects of globalization, like outsourcing and resettlement of labour resources, have produced on one hand the impoverishment of dependent economies and on the other the unemployment of millions of workers. This are the big consequences of the new economyand the fundamental structure for the philosophy of new liberalism.

Nowadays, social exclusion is also globalized and it is a clear feature of post-industrialized societies but also of those which have not yet reached this sort of development. Immigrants are particularly one of the social categories much more excluded as a group, because social exclusion has at the present a big impact on a number of people characterized by some special and common trace than it was before when people excluded were individuals dropped out from society because their own isolated social location. This exclusion of immigrants it is also attached to refuse or reject demonstrations, like intolerance, chauvinism, xenophobic, or simply racial discrimination and in recent times when exclusion is also grounded in a deep religious membership (fundamentalism), either of the immigrants or of the local residents as a vice versa movement. Muslims in the whole western world are at the present those more excluded than other believers or no believers and there are at least two principal reasons for it: one is related to their ancient struggle against Jews people and at present to the Israel State, linked today to the Palestine situation, and the other reason is regarding to their land property of the main oil resources almost around the East part of world. But, from September eleventh 2001, Muslims are surely the fiercest symbolic enemies of western World, although a small and militarized group of them (Al Quaeda) without any special representation of the Islamic culture, have assumed the responsibility of the Twin Towers attack.

2.)This last event, beside its criminal methods and course of actions, with the tragic consequences of more than three thousands peoples dead, have triggered the most irrational punitive reactions from the Governments, and no only from that of the United States of America but also from other, European also. The so called Patriot Actfrom the American Congress, although it was a law addressed towards protections of insecurity in front of terrorism, in general terms, it had also pointed out the way which must be followed by those friend governments of the United States in order to assure safety to their populations.

Starting from this point we can now consider how immigration, particularly of those people from Islam but not only, have being fairly large understood as a problem of insecurity. Clandestinezation, illegalization and criminalization are almost logical consequences of this processes in order to download over immigrants all the blames of insecurity.

3.)Coming to our Spanish perspective it must be here remember that already at the so known as the Meeting of the Azores Islands, in March 2003, between President Bush, Prime Minister Blair and President of the Spanish Government, Aznar, the Summit decided to go ahead with the Irak invasion, meanwhile President Bush has tried to convince the European Union to unify efforts in order to reconstruct the United Nations and therefore to receive a commandment to proceed against Sadam Hussein. Because the support given to President Bush’s initiatives, the former Spanish Government has begun by introducing new reforms to the existing law for foreigners and doing so also legal framework for foreigners became much more hard. From that date onwards a number of thirteen reforms of the Criminal Law as well as Penitentiary regulations have being undertaken, which of course have affected not only to foreigners but also to Spanish people under penal control. But all of these amendments were restrictions measures for people who has been blamed of serious and dangerous crimes in general terms but particularly to those suspected of terrorism. Of course, it must be also remembered that all the Spanish governments from the transition era up to current time have had a strong activity against more than one armed group which have put forward political reasons in front its activities, but particularly a big struggle onto the independent Basque warfare known as ETA. It must be now and here specially underlined the present one, of Mr. Rodríguez Zapatero, which is wrestling to reach to a definitive dismantle of ETA. Therefore, there is a long experience of institutions and politicians to react in front of these emergencies through legal measures which have to be created and enforced inside the limits of the Rule of Law but it were not respected in several opportunities, giving place to a huge number of arbitrariness. This kind of interventions are recognized from within the legal language as exceptional ones, from it comes exceptionalismas a way to behave in front of every emergency whose legal treatment is not predicted within the framework of the Rule of Law. Because of this, the legislative production of new rules as well as its enforcement through the relatives instances or agencies are tasks always fulfilled on the borders of the Rule of Law. This was the situation in some European countries during the 1970 decade in front of the terrorism, and it happens also now in regard to immigration. Therefore, we can speak that most of the European people is leaving inside a so called emergency culture,from that time up to now.

4.)Now, I will try to explain the real substance of this emergency culture in regard of immigration and linked to Spain. First of all, it must be underline that last amendments introduced to the law for foreigners have hardened their legal situations. This is the consequence of fixing a difference between those foreigners who has a residence permission, named as regulars, and the others who have not this authorization, then they become irregulars. Therefore these last people are promptly turned on illegal, which means san papiers(without papers) situation which allows to identify an immigrant in this condition as a clandestine, because he cannot get a job or rent a house. And a person who can be categorized as such is in the same circumstances to be socially recognized like a criminal, particularly because if he has not any possibility to have a regular income, then the straightaway stereotypefication facilitates his criminalization. This is a very common belief which is usually supported by communication means which I allow myself to name as a negative common sense within public opinion. Of course, this belief can be reaffirmed itself when it is compared to the level of foreigners in prison, which is at the present very high when contrasted to domestic populations, notwithstanding most of the foreigners are in prison because low level crimes (like petty thefts, pickpockets, small drug smugglings). In Catalonia, as one of the most developed and populated autonomous Communities Spains, for instance, last year foreigners in prison has reached a 32,4 % (thirty two, point four per cent) = 2.625 of the whole penitentiary population = almost seven thousand (7.000). The combination of all these elements provokes the social construction of immigrants as criminals, label which in a context of a large international fear and also manipulated from the level of State institutions, there is no doubt about the stigmatization.

A big risk for an illegal foreigner is the expulsion order, a measure which is usually adopted although the present law allows to impose a fine. During the administrative enforcement of an expulsion order, illegal foreigners are submitted to custody for not more than fourteen days, time which is spent in a detention centre (Centro de Internamiento para Extranjeros-CIE). Of course, there is foreseen a jurisdictional control for these situations, but usually the time employed for a court to revise the case is always longer than the administrative process to proceed with the expulsion.

This brief explanation about how can be in fact the treatment of illegal immigrants is useful to understand the level of human rights violation which can be reached through the enforcement of the foreseen administrative measures within the legal framework established in Spain at the present. From this point of view it must be said that current Spanish legislation for foreigners is highly repressive.

5.)But now it must also be taken under consideration how this stereotypization of illegal immigrants as criminal was also enlarged with their categorization as terrorists too.

When the second legislative period of conservative Government led by President Aznar was reaching to its end, at the beginning of last year 2004, the political debate was filled and crossed by a tense argumentation about terrorism. This was of course the political clime around the world, and it was also inside Spain but, within this last framework the fear to terrorism was also grounded on the permanent presence of ETA.

Nevertheless, by that period the attack to the Atocha railway station in Madrid, on March eleventh (M 11) has happened. Notwithstanding, it must also mention that at the same time national elections were already scheduled by March 14th and the Conservative Party (PP) was dubious to obtain a positive success like in other former elections. This estimation was probably stronger because the opponent party -PSOE- had being growing in popular expectations and the socialists have being expressing their suspicions about why the Government has given its support to the war strategy of the United States Government regarding Irak. Once the attack was carried out, by producing around two hundred mortal victims and a huge number of seriously injured, the conservative Government immediately announced that the responsibility for the attack was of ETA. Of course, it must be here also said that ETA is actually one of the most popular enemies within Spanish society. And, therefore from the attack day (M 11) up to the evening before to the precedent day of the polls, the Spanish population was put under a high tension because the Government went on to say about the responsibility from ETA, meanwhile Spanish communication means but also from abroad were informing high doubts on this blame. The suspected Islamic influence was quickly ratified and few hours before the poll day the doubt about the perpetrators of the attack was rapidly clarified. Once the new Government led by Mr. José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero was settled down, within the Parliament was immediately installed a research Commission in order to investigate how and why the former conservative Government has stressed the attack responsibility on ETA regarding the M 11 attack. The Commission’s inform was absolutely confirmatory about the deceitfully behaviour of the Aznar Government, by trying to turn public attention off on the attack responsibility. Some people believes that this misconduct of President Aznar and his closer government team was one of the truly reasons of the socialist success. The Spanish population who at the time had not yet decided his choice took the determination to give a protest one in favour of the PSOE.

At the moment, a year after that President Rodríguez Zapatero holds his position, the immigration legal framework and also the criminal law reforms introduced by Government of former Presidente Aznar, continue to be the same. Nevertheless, on last May the seventh, a regularization process of immigrates who are leaving without papers in the Spanish territory, introduced by the present Spanish Government, has reached up to a very successful end because almost seven hundred thousands foreigners (i. e. non European immigrants) has applied for obtain a legal residence. But, from my personal point of view what it has to be done is a complete revision of the legal Spanish framework for foreigners, in order to abolish all the repressive measures and to produce a real change over the immigrant situations. However, this is a very complex issue, specially because Spain, like Italy, Portugal and France are those members which constitute the south continental border of the European Union and for this reason all these countries are required to work as an European frontier for East, South and West migrants. This point constitutes a big challenge which it can only be faced through Rule of Law answers and particularly now, when the project of a Magna Carta for Europe is again under discussion, after the results of the French and .............referendum. By the way, this could be a real opportunity to introduce accurately and truthfully rules on immigration within a new constitutional text for the European Union, if this task will be undertake in the next future.