Immigration occupies a good part of the political and media agenda today. In most cases, it is not approached from a humanitarian perspective, but from a partisan use that tries to obtain electoral benefit by seeking a scapegoat to blame for all the ills of society - unemployment, insecurity, difficulties in accessing housing... - even if it is absolutely false. A discourse that the extreme right exploits in the world, but in which other political formations fall, giving wings to their racism and xenophobia.
The European Union needs the arrival of migrants to maintain its economic system and ensure the pensions of its retirees, as well as guarantee adequate care for an increasingly aging population. A report by the Bank of Spain assures that in the Spanish State, almost 25 million foreigners of working age will be needed in 2053 to "avoid the aging process of the population and resolve the imbalances that could arise in the Spanish labor market."
Immigration creates wealth in the receiving countries and contributes to the progress of the countries of origin. It is essential if you want to maintain current quality of life parameters. But its management, as Professor Zakariae Cheddadi of the University of the Basque Country highlights in the Galde magazine, requires a good diagnosis that enables "an effective political intervention, capable of promoting the management of migratory flows, social integration and intercultural coexistence in society."
From Nueva Canarias-Bloque Canarista (NC-bc) we defend regulated and safe immigration that enables opportunities to achieve a dignified life for millions of people and, at the same time, covers the lack of labor in different economic sectors in European states. Avoiding the mafias that traffic in people, the suffering, the deportations and the deaths of thousands of people every year in the Atlantic or the Mediterranean. Building a better, more balanced, more humane and just world.
Anti-immigration
In Europe, the extreme right promotes the rejection of immigration. An ultra-right that grew in the European elections in June, although less than some polls predicted; and that infects the traditional right - and a part of social democracy - which ends up hardening its migratory discourse for fear of losing votes. This is the case of the restrictive measures taken by Germany. The main economic power of the EU - in which in recent electoral calls the institutional presence of the ultra-right grew in several Lander in the east, regions with a scarce presence of immigrants, but with serious social and economic problems - has just decided to extend its controls on internal borders. An action that breaks with the spirit of the Schengen treaty, which establishes the free transit of people, although it allows temporary restrictions and in extreme cases.
We must not forget that in September 2025 there are federal elections and the parties that support the current German government - social democrats, liberals and greens - appear poorly positioned in the polls, where the extreme right is positioned as the second force after the Christian Democrats of the CDU. Although it does not seem that copying the ultra proposals improves their electoral prospects.
Regarding the electoral rise of the extreme rights, Peio M. Aierbe. member of Mugak, Center for Study and Documentation on racism and xenophobia, points out that "many analyzes insist on the existence of broad sectors of society that feel abandoned by current institutions and whose discomfort is exploited by these forces." Raising the need for a profound change "aimed at combating inequalities, and addressing the shortcomings of the most vulnerable sectors of the native population in employment, housing, health and education," to successfully combat the advance of xenophobic discourse.
Germany is not the only case of increased restrictive policies. The Netherlands has just announced its intention not to be part of the community migration and asylum system. And Hungary is also going to request its exemption from immigration rules. The Migration and Asylum Pact - agreed at the end of 2023 and in force since May 2024 - was supported by practically all the states of the Union, except Hungary and the previous Polish executive. A Pact that we criticize for its clear inadequacies and for treating migrants as merchandise.
In the United States, Trump exploits the rejection of immigration to the maximum in the campaign for the November Presidential elections, going so far as to affirm that he intends to deport millions of people who live illegally in the country. And fueling all kinds of hoaxes to increase hatred towards migrants.
Perception vs reality
In the latest CIS barometer, published this week, immigration appears as the main problem of the Spanish State for 30.4%, ahead of political issues (20.6%), unemployment (20.1%), the economic crisis (19.8%), inequalities, including gender, and poverty (16.1%) and housing (15.4%). However, and this should serve for reflection, when people are asked what problems affect them more personally, things change quite a bit. They put the economic situation (30.2%) in the foreground, followed by health (17.1%), the quality of employment (16.5%) and housing (15.3%), with immigration occupying fifth place with 13.7%. It is evident that political controversy, hoaxes and misinformation catch on.
In the Canary Islands there was until now a high consensus regarding the migratory phenomenon, both in the Canary Pact for Immigration and in Parliament and the rest of the social institutions and organizations. Demanding the reform of article 35 of the Immigration Law to guarantee the mandatory distribution of unaccompanied minors who arrive on the islands, with the aim that they can be cared for with the utmost dignity. The blockade of the PP, Vox and Junts in the Congress of Deputies at the end of July frustrated that possibility. And since then CC has been dedicated to whitewashing the responsibility of its government partner, the PP, directing all its artillery against the PSOE and irresponsibly playing with minors as a weapon in the political struggle, very much in the style of what the extreme right does throughout the world.
Protocol of shame
The agreement signed by Clavijo and Feijóo on the PP's immigration policies and the establishment of a unilateral protocol for the care of unaccompanied immigrant minors without consulting the signatories of the Canary Pact or the state administration break the consensus that existed until now; and confirms the increasingly close political convergence between CC and the PP, which is becoming more and more conservative, with Feijóo coinciding in the most reactionary migration policy with the Greek Executive and with the ultra Meloni.
The protocol established by the Government of the Canary Islands of the two rights was appealed by the Prosecutor's Office, being suspended this Friday by the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands. The Prosecutor's Office had warned that the minors "would be deprived of immediate attention and in a situation of helplessness." Ensuring that it violates the fundamental right to the principle of equality recognized in article 14 of the Constitution and in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, as well as the fundamental right to moral integrity contained in article 15 of the Constitution.
It is an authentic mess that must have political responsibilities within the Canarian Executive. A protocol of shame that puts children as a shield in the political battle and that distorts the image of the Canary Islands.
In Nueva Canarias-Bloque Canarista we are very demanding with the Government of the State, demanding, among other things, the transfer of facilities to adequately welcome minors or more economic aid for their care. But we consider that it is as serious as it is unfair to hold the State Executive exclusively responsible when it was the PP who, with its negative vote, prevented the processing of the bill that was born from a proposal by the Government of the Canary Islands endorsed by the society of the Islands.
We also consider that its partisan use is obscene and we express our concern about the increasingly right-wing drift of the Canarian Government. And we also believe that the European Union must make the maximum effort to ensure that immigration is addressed from respect for human rights and making the interests of local populations compatible with those of people from different parts of the world who settle in the different states in search of a dignified life. And in the case of the Canary Islands and the Spanish State we call for unity, consensus, responsibility and respect for human rights in the face of the use of the most vulnerable to scratch votes.
