The bill was presented by MP Vanessa Barata, who defended the need for a minimum period of stay in Portugal for immigrants to access social benefits, stressing that taxpayers cannot be expected to pay subsidies to those arriving in Portugal.

The Chega MP cited, as an example, that the Solidarity Supplement for the Elderly (CSI) is granted only to those with 6 years of legal residency in Portugal, whereas there is no similar requirement for the Social Insertion Income (RSI).

She took the opportunity to immediately challenge the PSD to take a position, pointing out that Chega's proposal "is a litmus test for those who say they want regulated immigration and oversight of social justice."

Right-wing parties

Paulo Edson Cunha, from the PSD, stated that "the measure has every chance of being unconstitutional" and pointed out that this issue was already rejected in 2015.

The Social Democratic deputy also considered the proposal "immoral" and "absolutely unnecessary."

In closing, the leader of Chega recalled the position of former Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho, who in 2011 had defended a minimum period of residence for immigrants to access social benefits, and asked the PSD deputies, "What happened to you?"

For IL, deputy Joana Cordeiro argued that "the problem that Chega claims to want to solve does not exist" because the number of beneficiaries of the Social Insertion Income is at the lowest levels in the last 20 years.

The liberal also considered that Chega's project "is not only politically wrong, but it is also legally very dubious" and classified it as "populist propaganda."

João Almeida, from the CDS-PP party, began by saying that "it is not true that immigrants do not contribute, but it is also not true that there are not hundreds of thousands of immigrants in Portugal who do not make any contributions and who are eligible for social benefits."

Regarding the RSI (Social Integration Income), the deputy argued that "it makes sense to have a minimum number of years of residence to access it."

Left-wing parties

On the left, the Socialist Party (PS) deputy Pedro Delgado Alves said that the party will reject the proposal, highlighting its "legal fragility" and possible unconstitutionality.

For the Bloco de Esquerda deputy Fabian Figueiredo, the Chega party's proposal "is a prodigy of statistical fiction," recalling that more than 840,000 immigrants actively contribute to Social Security, who "injected €4 billion in the last year alone."

He accused the party of wanting to combat problems that don't exist, while it has militants like Mafalda Livermore who exploit immigrants by renting substandard housing, which was denounced through a report by RTP, and which led the leader of Chega, André Ventura, to request a protest.

The Livre MP Tomás Cardoso stated that "Chega brings more of the same" and that the party "doesn't want immigrants, period," while the sole MP of the Pessoas-Animais-Natureza (PAN) party accused Chega of bringing back its "obsession" with immigrants.

Inês Sousa Real took the opportunity to argue that it is not immigrants who weigh on the State coffers, but non-habitual residents, who "take €1.7 billion every year from the State coffers."

The sole MP of the Juntos pelo Povo (JPP) party argued that the way forward is not to choose between Portuguese and foreigners and criticised the creation of barriers that push families into poverty.