The senators have largely toughened the text proposed by the government. It will be studied by deputies from December.
A hardened text “which is not quite that of the government”. The senators adopted by 210 votes for and 115 votes againstTuesday November 14 the immigration bill, which they largely amended last week. After five days and four nights of sometimes heated debates, the senatorial majority of the right and the center managed to give this sensitive reform a serious turn of the screw to make it a tool of “firmness”. “I am happy that this text (…) has been adopted”even if he “is not totally that of the government”welcomed Friday the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, on BFMTV.
The positive outcome of the vote in the Senate leaves little doubt, since the Republicans (LR) and the centrist group, largely in the majority, agreed on all the provisions. The text will be debated from December 11 in the National Assembly, where it should be amended again, in particular by the left wing of the Macronist camp, which seeks to rebalance the text. In the meantime, franceinfo takes a look at the main measures of the bill passed in the Senate.
The abolition of State medical aid
Senators voted for the abolition of State Medical Aid (AME), a measure to which the government is opposed. This access to care system, reserved for foreigners who have been in an irregular situation in France for more than three months, allows 100% coverage of medical and hospital care, financed by the State. The decision provoked indignation among left-wing elected officials, as well as many health professionals and associations. In place of the AME, senators voted to create emergency medical aid, reduced to a base refocused on serious illnesses, pregnancy-related care, vaccinations and preventive medicine examinations.
Changing the rules surrounding the receipt of benefits
Just like the abolition of the AME, this measure was criticized by the left. According to the senators’ text, foreigners in a legal situation will now have to prove five years of residence, compared to six months at present, to be able to benefit from certain allowances, such as personalized housing assistance (APL) or family allowances. . It’s about “with an anti-draft arrangement”justified the centrist co-rapporteur, Philippe Bonnecarrère, on Tuesday, according to Public Senate.
The deletion of the article concerning regularizations in professions in tension
Article 3 of the initial text 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. LR senators voted for its deletion and replacement with article 4 bis. The latter provides that undocumented workers working in professions in shortage can obtain a one-year residence permit “exceptional”. VSand 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. Gérald Darmanin judged “acceptable” the new article voted on by the senators, on the other hand poorly received by the left wing of the majority. Renaissance MP Sacha Houlié promised in Le Figaro the reinstatement of article 3 by the deputies.
Simplifying expulsions for dangerous foreigners
The debate on the expulsion of convicted foreigners under obligation to leave the territory (OQTF) has raged since the Arras attack in October. The initial text planned to remove most of the protections against expulsion which benefit certain immigrants, in particular people who arrived in France before the age of 13 or who have been in the territory for more than twenty years. These provisions were largely tightened by the senators, reports Public Senate. An amendment, tabled by the government, adds the authors of a “deliberate and particularly serious violation of the principles of the Republic” to those affected by these possibilities of expulsion.
A reform of the asylum system
With its text, the government seeks to speed up asylum application procedures, but also to expel people under OQTF more quickly. The bill voted by the senators will thus allow the creation of “France Asile” counters in the prefectures, in which the asylum seeker will carry out all his procedures. The senators also voted for an amendment aimed at issuing an OQTF upon the rejection of a first asylum application and drastically reduced the number of procedures allowing an expulsion to be contested.
The issuance of a residence permit subject to compliance with the principles of the Republic
The bill aims to modify the Code of Right of Residence and Asylum. Article 13 therefore proposes to make the issue of a residence permit conditional on compliance “principles of the Republic”. To avoid censure from the Constitutional Council, the government defines these principles as “personal freedom, freedom of expression and conscience, equality between women and men, the dignity of the human person, the motto and symbols of the Republic within the meaning of article 2 of the Constitution..
Questioning land rights and limiting family gatherings
Right-wing senators removed the automaticity of soil law on Wednesday, reports The world. While today, children born on French territory to foreign parents obtain nationality automatically at the age of 18, the bill provides that they are obliged to “manifest [leur] will” to obtain nationality. Enough to shock many associations and unions, who sent a letter to the Prime Minister.
The Senate also limited the possibilities for family reunification for foreigners, by increasing the length of stay in the territory required to make this request from 18 to 24 months and by modifying the resource conditions.
Residence permits for undocumented immigrants who are victims of slumlords
This is the only victory for the left, a minority in the upper house. The senators adopted an amendment from the communist Ian Brossat, who proposes giving a residence permit to undocumented immigrants who are victims of slumlords once they have filed a complaint. Proposal received a favorable opinion from the Minister of the Interior, reports Public Senate.