Thousands of Dominicans could leave Spain

[NewsWhore]

The immigration policy currently being considered by several European countries could affect thousands of Dominicans living and working in Spain. The first to be affected would be an estimated 25,000 Dominicans who are there illegally, followed by over 100,000 who live there legally. Dominican consul in Spain Marcos Cross Sanchez told reporters from Hoy newspaper that the new immigration directives would certainly affect many thousands of Dominicans. According to Cross Sanchez, the new migration regulations would oblige many of the legal immigrants to return to their home countries. Spain and other European countries have decided that an undocumented citizen can be arrested and spend up to 18 months in prison, at the end of which the person would be repatriated. Spain has taken the additional step of deciding that any worker who is laid off due to the global crisis and who was paying into the social security fund would receive a single payment in order to return to their homeland. After three years, the person would be eligible to return to Spain.

More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#13)