Postponed several times, criticized on the left and right for opposing reasons, a bill on immigration will be examined from Monday in France, with flammable debates in perspective.
The government is banking on two aspects: a repressive component to “be tough with delinquent foreigners”, whose expulsion it wants to facilitate, while the rate of execution of obligations to leave French territory was only 6.9 % in the first half of 2022. And an integration component, first of all for “people who work”, as underlined by the French Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin.
The massive arrival of migrants on the Italian island of Lampedusa in September, then the assassination of a professor by a young Russian, a radicalized Islamist, in October in the north of France have reinforced the government’s conviction that this text is the right formula “for the security of the French”, according to the Ministry of the Interior.
France has 5.1 million foreigners in a legal situation, or 7.6% of the population. It hosts more than half a million refugees. The authorities estimate that there are 600,000 to 700,000 illegal immigrants.
The text “is part of the evolution of legislation throughout Europe, which tends to strengthen the tools to better control migratory flows”, analyzed by AFP Didier Leschi, director general of the French Immigration Office and integration (Ofii).
It will be examined by the Senate, then by the National Assembly, while the French political landscape is marked by a rise in power of the far-right National Rally (RN) party. According to a poll published at the end of October, its candidate Marine Le Pen would exceed the 30% mark if the first round of the presidential election were organized now, or at least seven points more than in the first round of 2022.
Regularizations
On the left, “we can be sure, no one will vote for this regressive text either in the Assembly or in the Senate,” assures communist senator Ian Brossat.
On the right and the far right, the text also raises criticism, in particular the flagship measure for the regularization of undocumented workers in “jobs in tension”, which provides for a one-year renewable residence permit for employees. sectors with labor shortages.
“We cannot expel more while regularizing more,” denounces the leader of the right-wing senators Bruno Retailleau, who will have “no problem” voting against the text if this measure is maintained.
Other measures are being debated, such as the possible transformation of state medical aid (AME) – which covers 100% of the health costs of undocumented immigrants present on French soil for at least three months – into medical aid. ’emergency.
The AME is a historic target of the right and the far right, who accuse it of generating a “draft” for illegal immigration and of costing too much – currently 1.2 billion euros annually. for 400,000 beneficiaries.
But his proposed limitation divides the presidential majority, while many caregivers see it as “nonsense for public health”.
“Modern slavery”
To adopt the bill, the government, which is negotiating with the right, hopes not to need to resort to article 49-3 of the Constitution, which allows a text to be passed by force, without a vote in Parliament, the executive incurring responsibility. But this promises to be difficult.
In this tense context, the immigrants interviewed by AFP are holding their breath in the face of a bill that they consider “stigmatizing”.
“It’s very difficult to hear that immigrants come to benefit from aid and benefits. It’s a big lie,” underlines Mody Diawara, a 38-year-old Ivorian who works in construction: “Remember that we work hard. We work or we die, that’s the reality!”
“The law really worries me,” explains Aboubacar Dembélé, 31, spokesperson for the striking undocumented workers of the Chronopost parcel delivery group in the Paris region.
“Minister Darmanin has already said that regularization (in) professions in tension does not open up new rights. It is a one-year card, without the possibility of family reunification. And if you no longer work in this type of profession, you lose your title. While we may have other skills, other desires. It locks us up, it’s modern slavery,” he says.
“We want to be regularized (…) We contribute to society, we pay taxes. We are not asking for a privilege, just our right,” judges the young Malian.