“It is the strongest text of the last twenty years”, defends the Minister of the Interior in an interview granted to the newspaper “Le Parisien” published on Saturday.
“Chiche, let’s work together!” In an interview published Saturday, May 27 in The Parisian (article reserved for subscribers), the Minister of the Interior suggests that members of the Les Républicains party work together with the government on the very controversial immigration bill. This outstretched hand is a response to the proposals of the leaders of the party, which, on Sunday, unveiled in The Sunday Journaltwo offensive bills in terms of migration policy.
“It is the strongest text of the last twenty years”defends Gérald Darmanin in the columns of the Parisian. “There are many proposals on which we agreesaid the Minister. Others where it won’t be possible.” Indeed, the elected representative of the North makes the distinction between the two bills proposed by the LRs: the first, “an ordinary piece of legislation, largely corresponds to what is already in our bill”he conceded. However, the second “constitutional, provides for the exit from international commitments of France, such as the Geneva Convention of 1951 or the European treaties, which can be similar to a migratory Frexit. We cannot seriously, on the fly, modify the Constitution or our European commitments, without a debate decided by the people”he points out.
Thus, questioned on the proposals of the right that he would like to keep, Gérald Darmanin enumerates: “The conditioning of visas, with the modulation of development aid to the countries concerned, the implementation of consular passes, the discussion around unaccompanied minors, the 360 degree control of applications for residence permits. ” Also questioned about a possible recourse to 49.3, the tenant of Place Beauvau ensures that “This question does not belong to [s]has jurisdiction”.
“I think the subject is our ability integrationcontinues Gérald Darmanin. Are we demanding enough with foreigners arriving in France? No. Do we have sufficient integration capacity? Maybe not quite. Are we firm enough to expel delinquent foreigners? Not yet. Even if, in practice, we doubled the deportations of foreign offenders in 2022, the law prevents us from going further. On this point, we can move forward with the LRs.”
However, this outstretched hand to the right will not be enough to get the text voted on. The Minister of the Interior will have to convince within his majority, part of which remains divided on the subject. “We are all in the same majority”he replies. “I work very well with Sacha Houlié (figure on the left wing), who has great talent and a sense of the interest of the country. In addition, I proposed to the MoDem and to Horizons to participate in the discussion with Republicans and centrists in the Senate.”