In a speech at a dinner with immigrant associations in Seixal, PCP deputy António Filipe argued that "it is unacceptable that there are hundreds of thousands of people who need to resolve problems in their lives, of legalization".

"What we advocate is that there be a major mobilization of public services so that this problem can be resolved. We have the example of what was done with the Covid-19 vaccination: there was a need to vaccinate many people in the shortest possible time", he said.

For António Filipe, now "a way must also be found to mobilize wills, efforts, human resources and the availability of the Portuguese State to quickly create a way for people to be attended to without being plundered with fees, but to be quickly attended to so that this problem can be resolved".

"We will not abandon this issue, which cannot be abandoned, because we cannot leave citizens who live and work among us in a situation of illegality due to the negligence of public services. This must be resolved: count on us to resolve this problem", he said, to the applause of several immigrants.

In this brief speech, before a dinner of cachupa, António Filipe stressed that immigrants "are a large part of the working class" in Portugal and "must work on equal terms" and have the same rights as other Portuguese workers.

"We know that there is a racist discourse that tends to take hold in Portuguese society and we must fight it without any hesitation. We overthrew colonialism, we overthrew fascism and we must overthrow racism and xenophobia in Portuguese society. They shall not pass", he assured.

Before this speech, there was a short period of speeches by several immigrants, one of whom said that "immigrants, especially undocumented immigrants in the process of renewal, are completely abandoned and desperate".

"The Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA) does not work. (...) There was an instrument that worked and I never thought I could miss the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF) and, at this moment, I do", he said.

In turn, Miguel Fortes, president of the Cape Verdean Association of Seixal, asked the PCP deputies to be the spokespersons for immigrants in the Assembly of the Republic and addressed in particular the situation of the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA).

"I asked comrade Paula Santos to create a corridor for the presidents of the associations of the district of Setúbal to meet with the parliamentary leaders in parliament to discuss issues such as how to make AIMA work, so that each of us is entitled to a residence permit, visa renewal or nationality", he said.

The parliamentary leader of the PCP, Paula Santos, defended that "the rights of all those who are in Portugal must be guaranteed", adding that, according to the Constitution, "there can be no discrimination whatsoever" in society.

"We must fight and combat all hate speech, racist, xenophobic and those who seek to whitewash colonialism and fascism", she defended.

PCP MEP Sandra Pereira, the party's current "number two" for the European elections, also took the floor to stress that the CDU "does not instrumentalize inequalities and injustices" and does not want to "set the poor against the poor, as many reactionary projects are doing at the moment".

"I appeal to you here: vote for the CDU on the 9th. Join us in this fight for a society that has these values of equality, inclusion, integration of all", she stressed.

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