Hungary Passes 'Stop Soros' Law to Curb Illegal Immigration

Hungary’s parliament just passed the “Stop Soros” law criminalizing facilitating illegal immigration, named after George Soros’ nasty reputation for financially supporting illegal Muslim migrants.

The asylum system in European countries has been abused for a long time. According to the BBC, “Hungary says immigration threatens its national security, but its hardline stance and new law have faced widespread international criticism.”

Though there are some critiques across the globe, Hungarians really back this move. The vote for the “Stop Soros” law won overwhelmingly with 159 yeas and only 5 dissents.

Soros himself is probably not too fond of this law. In May, Soros’ Budapest branch of Open Society Foundations announced in a press release that they will be moving to Germany due to "increasingly repressive political and legal environment in Hungary."

Amnesty International Europe Director Gauri van Gulik said he thinks this is "a new low point in an intensifying crackdown on civil society and it is something we will resist every step of the way.”

Immigration has been a huge issue in Hungarian politics and was a major platform point that got their Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, re-elected. From 2015 to 2017, the number of asylum seekers granted entry through Hungary’s borders dropped from 177,000 to around 3,200.

Many people around the world took to Twitter to express their opinions on the vote.

Even with a lot of pushback internationally, it looks like Hungary is going to move forward with their current immigration views. According to Reuters, Hungary’s Finance Ministry is planning on introducing a 25 percent tax on any group that is facilitating migration.