Spain is legalizing half a million immigrants, a very different policy from the U.S.

ImmigrationSpain is legalizing half a million immigrants, a very different policy from the U.S.One Colombian immigrant said she was grateful she didn’t end up in the U.S., “because with everything that’s happened, we would have been deported already.”Overlooking Barcelona, Spain, on Wednesday.Angel Garcia / Bloomberg via Getty ImagesShareAdd NBC News to GoogleMay 30, 2026, 7:30 AM EDTBy Marta Campabadal GrausBARCELONA, Spain — Nariola Romo, 34, and her family immigrated to Spain from Colombia, but that wasn’t their initial plan. Their goal was to travel to the United States, but they couldn’t obtain the two loans they needed to make the trip, so they sought a new life in Europe instead.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.“Things didn’t work out for us, and we thought it was God’s will that we didn’t get the chance to go there, and, well, here we are,” she said.Today, as she nears obtaining legal status in Spain, she feels grateful for the turn her life has taken. “Look at how things are in the United States with migrants. It seems like God didn’t want us to be there, because with everything that’s happened, we would have been deported already,” she said.From right to left, Nariola Romo, her son, Angelito, her husband, Ángel, her daughter, Claribel, and her father, Will, on the Barcelona metro.Marta CampabadalIn Spain, an extraordinary regularization process is underway that is expected to legalize the status of more than 500,000 undocumented immigrants.If approved, the work and residence permit is valid for one year for adult immigrants, who will then have to demonstrate employment to maintain their permit. For minors, their status is regularized for five years.It’s a contrast from the U.S., where President Donald Trump — who said during the 2024 presidential campaign that undocumented immigrants were “poisoning the blood” of the country” — has conducted a massive campaign to detain and deport immigrant...