Portugal Approves Draft 'Return' Law to Speed Deportations

Overview

• The Council of Ministers cleared the draft on March 19 and sent it to the Assembly for debate and a vote.
• The proposal scraps the 20‑day voluntary departure notice, allows expulsions to proceed despite asylum requests, lengthens reentry bans, and centralizes enforcement in the police’s National Unit for Foreigners and Borders.
• Preventive detention for migrants would rise from 60 days to up to 360 days in the government text, while one outlet reports a ceiling of 18 months under the proposal.
• Prime Minister Luís Montenegro’s AD government lacks a majority and is relying on support from the far‑right Chega to pass the measure.
• Officials cite low deportation rates and a 2025 case in which about 40 boat arrivals fled after release, as immigrant groups—many of them Brazilian residents—report bureaucratic hurdles and growing discrimination.