, Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan, the associate director of the Migration Policy Institute's International Program said she believed both countries' immigration responses to the pandemic are reflective of"goals and values" before the pandemic.
"So, I think in some places where we've seen a lot of restrictions, those really do reflect things that political parties had wanted to achieve in terms of immigration restrictions even before the crisis. A public health emergency gave them the cover they needed to push through pretty draconian restrictions and in some cases, all-out halts on certain streams of immigration or all-out border closures," Banulescu-Bogdan said.
When it comes to values,"Portugal had been exploring ways to open itself up to immigration in the past few years and since the 2015-2016 European migration and refugee crisis, it had already veered in a different direction than other countries." The response we are seeing now in the wake of the pandemic, Banulescu-Bogdan said,"doesn't come out of nowhere. It comes out of this already deep history of being quite open to immigration in a way that other countries weren't."
"Therefore, being cautious like most countries it hasn't opened up to any new immigration, rather it has simply taken a step to provide health care services to foreign nationals who are already in the country. Banulescu-Bogdan said being able to ensure that everyone is able access the health care system and other public benefits without fear"is definitely better for reaching public health goals."that undocumented families in the U.S. are avoiding seeking medical care or support from the government due to fears of being deported out of the country.
Can America learn something from Portugal, regarding migrants and Covid19?
Of course they are. This doesn't appear to be much worse than a flu. You're making rash, life altering decisions based on fear and invalid information. If it was merely about healthcare, healthcare would be opened up, not citizenship. Think before accepting. Sorry Potugal!
Beautiful act of compassion!
This is how you take care of people.
From dealing with policing and drugs abuse, Portugal continues to be the model for humaneness.
They are gonna regret that move
US!
GhostAnneBoleyn I'm going
Seems a slightly myopic immigration policy?
This is what every ethical global community must do. There’s no equivocating. It just is.
What is Saudi Arabia doing? I mean really, shouldn't they be taking in more Muslim refugees that Europe? They are supposed to have a lot of oil money.