Secretary of State for Migration

Secretario de Estado de Migraciones

Coat of Arms used by the Government

Incumbent
Jesús Javier Perea Cortijo
since April 7, 2021

Ministry of Labour, Migration and Social Security
Secretariat of State for Migration
Style| The Most Excellent (formal)
Mr./Ms. Secretary of State (informal)
Abbreviation| SED
Nominator| The Minister of Labour
Appointer| Monarch
Precursor| Secretary General for Immigration and Emigration
Formation| April 19, 2004
First holder| Consuelo Rumí
Website| extranjeros.mitramiss.gob.es

The Secretary of State for Migration (SEM) is a senior official of the Spanish Ministry of Labour, Migrations and Social Security responsible for developing the government's policy on foreigners, immigration and emigration. It also attends and advises the minister in the international meetings about these matters, especially in the European Union meetings.[1]

The SEM is appointed by the Monarch with the advice of the Labour Minister. From the Secretary of State depends a single department, the General Secretariat for Immigration and Emigration, body that in other times has assumed the functions of the secretariat of state.

## History[edit]

Since its inception and its worldwide expansion, Spain has always been a country that has received and sent large amounts of population. Most of the South American population and in a lesser amount the North American population, descends from Spanish ancestry.

That has provoke that a common culture and language link dozens of countries of all the world, not just Latin American countries but also Asian countries like the Philippines, African countries like Morocco or Equatorial Guinea and North American countries like United States and Canada.

It is not clear when migratory issues took center stage within the Spanish administration, although there is evidence that in 1882, a section was created inside the Ministry of Development destinated to these matters.[2] Before this, there are documents that proves that the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of the Navy and the Ministry of Overseas were in charge of overseeing the migrations in the Peninsular Spain and in the Spanish territories in the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania[3] and that there were also parliamentary committees to discuss migrations matters.[4]

In the 1920s, the Ministry of Labour assumed the competencies over immigration and emigration that still today maintains. During the dictatorship of Franco, in 1956, it was created the Spanish Institute for Emigration in order to control the emigration of the Spanish population, trying to direct it to countries with cultural links like South American's. This was done through collecting labor information abroad to offer Spaniards more attractive jobs in this type of countries.[5]

In 1985, the Institute was transformed into a Directorate-General being called Directorate-General of the Spanish Institute for Emigration. The name of this directorate was changed in 1991 to Directorate-General for Migration, a more accurate name because since 1985 this directorate had competences not only over emigration, but also over all kind of migrations.[6]

The Directorate-General change its name many times, in 1996 to Directorate-General for Labor and Migration and in 1998 Directorate General for the Regulation of Migrations.

In 2004 was created the current Secretariat of State under the name of Secretariat of State of Immigration and Emigration and depending on it were three directorate-generals: Directorate-General for Immigration, Directorate-General for Emigration and Directorate-General for the Integration of Immigrants. This Secretariat of State was replaced in 2011 by the General Secretariat of Immigration and Emigration and was created again in 2018 by the name of Secretariat of State for Migration and the former General Secretariat of Immigration and Emigration was integrated as a subsidiary department of it.

## Structure[edit]

Under the Secretary of State are the following officials:[1]

* The General Secretariat for Immigration and Emigration.
* The Directorate-General for Migration.

It is in charge of all administrative affairs regarding immigration and the administrative affairs and public aids to support Spaniards abroad
* The Directorate-General for Integration and Humanitarian Attention.

It is in charge of immigration issues related to international protection, integration of immigrants and unaccompanied minors, humanitarian aid to immigrants, voluntary return of immigrants, migration centers and European funds.
* The Deputy Directorate-General for Planning and Economic Management.

It is in charge of the human resources of the Secretariat of State, the relations with citizens and the economic affairs and budget.
* The Deputy Directorate-General for Legal Affairs.

It makes reports and offers legal advice as well as writing the legislation that is entrusted to it regarding migration issues.

The SED also has a personal Cabinet for the coordination of the Secretary of State' activities within the European Union and other international forums and organizations in matters of migration.

## List of secretaries of state[edit]

No.  | Image  | Name  | Term of office  | Ministers serving under:  | Prime Minister appointed by:

|
|
|
|
|

Began  | Ended  | Days of service
1º |  | Consuelo Rumí  | 21 April 2004  | 27 February 2010  | 2138  | Javier Solana | José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
2º |  | Anna Terrón  | 27 February 2010  | 31 December 2011  | 672  | Celestino Corbacho
3º |  | Consuelo Rumí  | 19 June 2018  | 30 January 2020  | 590  | Magdalena Valerio | Pedro Sánchez
4º |  | Hana Jalloul | 30 January 2020  | 31 March 2021  | 426  | José Luis Escrivá
\-  |  | Santiago Antonio Yerga Cobos
Acting | 31 March 2021  | 7 April 2021  | 7
5º |  | Jesús Javier Perea Cortijo  | 7 April 2021  | Incumbent  | 1129

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b "Royal Decree 903/2018, of July 20, by which the organic structure of the Ministry of Labor, Migration and Social Security is developed". boe.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-09-25.
2. ^ Royal decree creating in the Directorate of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce of the Ministry of Public Works a section in charge of dealing with everything that refers to immigration and immigration issues.
3. ^ Royal decree authorizing the immigration of Cochin-Chinese settlers on the island of Cuba.
4. ^ Parliamentary Document.- Opinion of the commission on Galician immigration in the Island of Cuba.
5. ^ Calvo Salgado, L. M.; Fernández Vicente, M. J.; Kreienbrink, A.; Sanz Díaz, C.; Sanz Lafuente, G. (2009). Historia del Instituto Español de Emigración. La política migratoria exterior de España y el IEE del franquismo a la transición (PDF). University of Zurich. pp. 24–25.
6. ^ Royal Decree 1458/1991, of October 11, by which the General Directorate of Migrations of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security is created.