Portugal’s president enacts law speeding up deportations of irregular migrants

Portugal’s President António José Seguro has enacted a law intended to speed up the expulsion of migrants living in the country without regular status, clearing the way for a tougher migration framework promoted by the centre-right government.

Seguro approved the measure after Portugal’s Constitutional Court reviewed it over the weekend and found that it did not breach the constitution. The court also established criteria to guide judges and administrative authorities as they apply the new rules.

The president had sent the legislation for preventive review because he questioned whether its original wording adequately protected fundamental rights. In an official statement, the presidency said he had “well-founded doubts” about safeguarding the best interests of children and ensuring that administrative decisions on detention remained proportionate for foreign nationals who had committed no crime.

The law will be published in the Diário da República before its formal implementation nationwide. Parliament approved it on July 17 with support from the governing coalition and Iniciativa Liberal, while the far-right Chega party abstained.

The reform is part of the migration package Prime Minister Luís Montenegro has pursued since late 2025. The government says the new framework will accelerate deportation procedures and prevent asylum applications from being used improperly.

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I had well-founded doubts about whether the best interests of the child were safeguarded and whether the proportionality of the duration of detention of foreign citizens who have not committed any crime was guaranteed by administrative decision.