Madrid, Spain —Spain has announced it will grant legal status to 500,000 undocumented migrants, in a move that goes against a trend of anti-immigration rhetoric and policies in the United States and much of Europe. The number of undocumented migrants in Spain has grown eight-fold since 2017, according to Funcas. The Spanish government said that policy could allow 900,000 undocumented migrants to obtain legal status over the following three years. A history of pathways to legal statusSpain has approved large-scale pathways to legal status for undocumented migrants on at least six other occasions since the 1980s. Under the socialist government of Felipe González, in 1986, more than 38,000 people obtained legal status.
