Senators continue to tighten the immigration bill. The upper house has profoundly modified the regularization in professions in shortage, the most emblematic aspect of the project defended by the government.
After winning its case by voting on Tuesday to abolish state medical aid (AME), the senatorial majority, made up of elected Republicans and centrists, continued its in-depth rewriting of the immigration bill, Wednesday, November 8, in unraveling the regularization of workers in professions in tension desired by the government.
The president of the Les Républicains (LR) group, Bruno Retailleau, announced the color by addressing the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin. “From the start, we have stated our opposition to Article 3 and Article 4 [sur la régularisation des travailleurs sans-papiers dans les métiers en tension]. Tonight, I hope they will be deleted”, had launched the senator from Vendée. Mission accomplished for the LR senators, who had promised not to vote on the text in the event of maintaining these articles, which embodied the main point of divergence between the right and the executive at the Luxembourg Palace.
The regularization system wanted by the government suppressed by the right
The initial text presented to parliamentarians by the government proposed to regularize “full right” people in an irregular situation working in “jobs in tension”, that is to say where there is a shortage of labor. Article 3 of the bill provided that undocumented people could obtain a residence permit with a validity of one year, renewable by providing proof of three years of presence in France as well as eight pay slips.
The aim of the executive was to relax the Valls circular, which today sets the criteria for admission to a residence permit for workers in an irregular situation. To be regularized, an employee must present a promise of employment signed by his employer, a procedure “middle-aged”, according to Gérald Darmanin. The article proposed by the government suggested that workers submit this request themselves, without obtaining the approval of their employer, who does not always have an interest in this.
“It is an article which mentions the fact that people who are already on the national territory can access (…) regularizations, because we need this workforce”, underlined during the debates the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin. But the senatorial majority, opposed to the creation of an automatic right to regularization, voted to delete article 3. The elected officials also voted in favor of the withdrawal of article 4, which was to allow applicants to asylum from certain countries to be authorized to work upon their arrival in France.
“When we are at more than 7% unemployment rate, thinking that solving the problems of job shortage [passe] necessarily by the regularization of this illegal, clandestine immigration, is something of the order of abandonment”declared Bruno Retailleau in the hemicycle, fearing a “air call” migration created by a “automatic right to regularization”.
To achieve this vote and the deletion of this article 3, LR parliamentarians had to negotiate the support of the centrist Union (UC), the other component of the senatorial majority. An amendment, tabled by the two parties, long divided on these questions, sets the contours of a new article 4 bis, profoundly modifying the conditions of the government proposal.
A new article 4 bis which tightens the conditions for regularization
Adopted during the night from Wednesday to Thursday by senators, article 4 bis drastically restricts the conditions for obtaining a residence permit “temporary worker” Or “employee” one year. It is only at “exceptional title”and no longer automatically as the government planned, that a worker in an irregular situation will be able to claim a residence permit.
The latter must now have worked at least twelve months over the last two years in “professions and geographic areas characterized by recruitment difficulties”, according to the terms of this article. Another condition set by this new system is that the applicant must have at least three years of residence in France. However, this article retains one of the characteristics of the government’s proposal: the request can be filed by the worker, without the agreement or endorsement of the employer.
Regularization will be issued by the prefect, who will have decision-making power in these procedures. They “will henceforth be obliged to verify not only the reality and nature of the foreigner’s professional activities, but also their social and family integration”welcomes Bruno Retailleau in a press release.
According to Gérald Darmanin, article 4 bis drafted and adopted by LR and the UC is “acceptable to the government”. The amendment adopted by the Senate partly satisfies the Minister of the Interior. “Politics is quite simple, it’s about fighting for convictions. We try [de faire passer] 100% of his convictions, [mais] when you can have 50%, you can be happy with it”he explained in the hemicycle.
The future of the text soon in the hands of deputies
To enter into force, article 4 bis must be adopted by the deputies of the National Assembly. Expected from December 11, the future of the immigration bill remains unclear. Asked by Le Figaro, the Renaissance deputy and president of the law committee, Sacha Houlié, promises the restoration of “ambitious text from the executive, the entire text from the executive. Including the section on regularizations”.
Guest of Public Senate, Thursday, Bruno Retailleau reacted to the comments of Sacha Houlié: “Let him be wary, there is no absolute majority in the National Assembly”. At the Palais Bourbon, the majority could indeed need the LR group to convey their text without using 49.3. In the event of a profound modification of the text adopted in the Senate by the deputies, the elected official from Vendée warns that the debates during the joint committee will be difficult and harsh. “If there is unraveling, it will be nothing”, warns Bruno Retailleau.