Is the proposed immigration reform balanced, or is it another example of President Emmanuel Macron’s tough stance on migrants? The French government presented a blueprint for a new immigration law to the National Assembly on Tuesday, with plans to push it through early next year. Marketed by the Centrist administration as a balanced framework, the bill aims to tighten deportations even as it creates new residence options for workers in sectors facing labor shortages.
“This text will be balanced. At the start of the parliamentary debate on immigration policy, the prime minister stated that true balance will come only as rights are respected,” noted the media attention surrounding the bill. The government likewise signaled openness to refining the proposal during the January Council of Ministers stage, with Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne signaling no firm commitment to its final form at this point.
“Too many rules slowed removals”
While the Macron administration maintains that the package is not solely punitive toward foreigners, humanitarian organizations have voiced serious concerns. They argue that many provisions are geared toward speeding up the removal of irregular migrants, a stance often associated with France’s far right, which has historically invoked tragic events to bolster its position.
Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, a leading figure in Macron’s conservative circle and seen by some as a potential successor, argued that crime-related foreigners should be expelled from French soil. He framed the measure as one that would remove individuals convicted of offenses from areas where violence against women, police actions, or drug trafficking occur. The minister contended that too many rules have impeded expulsions up to now.
The proposed law would be the 29th immigration measure enacted in France since 1980 and would introduce an almost automatic removal order for asylum seekers whose requests are rejected. Critics like Pierre Henry, president of the France Fraternités association, warned that the new process could resemble a roll call, with local authorities issuing deportation orders on a routine basis.
The reform would also curb legal recourse for those denied asylum or facing deportation orders. It would push asylum reviews toward a single judge rather than a broader court procedure, a shift that associations say could increase the risk of arbitrary outcomes. Additionally, the bill would require a French language test to obtain a residence permit.
Streamlining for workers and construction laborers
Over the past decade, deportation orders in France have roughly doubled, rising from about 60,000 in 2011 to over 120,000 in 2019. Yet coordination with countries of origin has often limited actual removals to a fraction of orders. Darmanin noted that last year saw a 21% increase in deportations, underscoring the government’s emphasis on enforcement within the current framework.
To address labor shortages, the bill proposes an annual renewable residence permit with a shorter duration than traditional permits for migrants employed in sectors experiencing labor strain. It also broadens the catalog of eligible professions and grants the government authority to hire migrant workers without extensive paperwork. The administration has pledged to raise funding for integration by a quarter and to simplify the bureaucratic steps involved in requesting residence permits.
Labor Minister Olivier Dussopt described a need to reverse the trend of a stressed workforce by supporting the regularization of migrants in response to employer needs and gaps in manpower. He estimated that the measure would affect a subset of the 600,000 to 700,000 foreigners living in France without proper documentation, arguing that significant overhauls to regulation would not be required. Critics from the left, including Elsa Faucillon of the NUPES coalition, warned that announcements of regularization risk normalizing far-right ideas rather than delivering practical solutions for workers and communities alike. [Attribution: France government briefing and diverse NGO responses, 2024]