what are the main remaining measures of the text after the censorship of 40% of the articles by the Constitutional Council?

What remains of the law on immigration after the decision rendered by the Constitutional Council on Thursday January 25? The Sages were contacted by Emmanuel Macron, the President of the National Assembly and left-wing parliamentarians regarding nearly fifty articles of a text which included 86 in the version voted by Parliament in December, after the compromise between the majority and the right in a joint committee.

Once the text has been sifted by the Sages, certain measures desired by the right no longer appear there, such as the conditioning of certain social assistance to a minimum duration of residence, provisions toughening the conditions of family reunification or even the request for deposit for foreign students.

There are therefore 51 articles remaining in this bill, which has been complicated since its announcement in the fall of 2022. Extension of the obligations to leave French territory (OQTF), establishment of a condition of “respect for the principles of the Republic” to obtain a residence permit, regularization of certain undocumented immigrants working in professions in shortage… Franceinfo takes stock of the main remaining measures of this text, which must be promulgated by Emmanuel Macron “in the coming hours”said Thursday evening Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin.

An expansion of OQTFs to usually protected foreigners

Article 37 of the law, validated by the Constitutional Council, provides that certain foreigners hitherto protected may be issued with an obligation to leave French territory (OQTF). This includes people who arrived in France before the age of 13. In their decision, the Wise Men consider that the guarantees provided remain sufficient, because the administration will always have to take into account the duration of the foreigner’s presence in the territory, their links with France, humanitarian considerations… In other words , “the institutional base has not been reached”judges the Constitutional Council.

Exclusion from child welfare of certain foreigners covered by an OQTF

Article 44 of the bill provides that foreigners aged 18 to 21 covered by an OQTF will no longer be able to benefit from the child welfare service (ASE) provided by the departments, as is the case until now. This is the case if they were entrusted to the ASE as minors.

The creation of a file of delinquent unaccompanied minors

Article 39 of the Immigration Act provides for the collection of fingerprints and photographs of unaccompanied foreign minors suspected of having committed crimes, without their consent being necessary. This provision was validated by the Constitutional Council, which ruled that it was not a legislative rider: “These provisions cannot be considered as devoid of any link, even indirect, with those of article 11 of the initial bill”which authorized these readings, writes the institution in its decision.

Regularizations, under conditions, in professions in tension

When the text was presented in 2022, it was this measure that was presented as an element of balance in the text, to “improve integration” and satisfy the left wing of the majority. The provision relating to the regularization of undocumented workers in “shortage occupations” is still part of the text. But the presidential majority had resigned itself, during parliamentary debates, to a much more restrictive version than that of the initial bill. It gives prefects discretionary power to regularize undocumented workers in these professions, but allows the latter to apply for a residence permit without going through their employer.

The residence permit is conditional on compliance with the “principles of the Republic”

From now on, a foreign person who applies for a residence permit will undertake “by signing an employment contract, in compliance with the principles of the Republic”. This includes, in particular, respect for personal freedom, freedom of expression or equality between women and men. “No residence document can be issued to a foreigner (…) whose behavior shows that he does not respect its obligations”it is written in article 46 of the law. “It is rightly so” that the legislator “imposed subscription on foreign nationals, who are not in the same situation as nationals” to this employment contract, considers the Constitutional Council in its decision.

An extension of the duration of house arrest for certain foreigners

From now on, the duration of house arrest for certain foreigners subject to a removal measure from French territory increases from six months to one year, renewable twice instead of once, under article 42 of the text. This concerns “the foreigner who justifies being unable to leave French territory or being unable to return to his country of origin or to go to any other country”according to the Code of entry and stay of foreigners and the right to asylum.

The deployment of “France Asile” centers

The law provides in article 62 for the deployment throughout France of “France Asile spaces”. In these places, in addition to the services of the prefecture and the French Office for Immigration and Integration (OFII), agents from the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (Ofpra) will be present to process asylum requests from new arrivals in France.