2023-11-10 11:36:40
On the fourth day of debates, the upper house examined two articles which provide for “the removal of foreigners constituting a serious threat to public order”, for the repressive aspect of the immigration law.
These articles 9 and 10 constitute the heart of the government project, “much more important than the other provisions that we have discussed for hours and hours”, estimated the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin in reference to the flagship measure of the integration component, the regularization of undocumented workers in professions in tension adopted in a toughened version the day before.
These voted provisions essentially provide for lifting most of the “protections” against expulsion from which certain immigrants benefit with the exception of minors, including those who arrived in France before the age of 13. They target people who have been the subject of a final conviction for crimes or offenses punishable by five years or more of imprisonment, or when it concerns intra-family violence. Measures which may be accompanied by a ban on French territory for ten years.
Darmanin compromises with the right
For Gérald Darmanin, this is a “great step forward” after the adoption of these articles thanks to the votes of the senatorial majority of the right and the center. “We are the only country to have put these protections throughout the European Union,” argued the Minister of the Interior earlier, estimating that this will allow the expulsion of around 4,000 additional people per year. “The fact of having remained on our territory for a few years does not justify” a form of immunity, he added.
Since the examination of this text, the Minister of the Interior, put under pressure by Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne who wants to reserve the constitutional weapon of 49.3 for budgetary texts, has wet his shirt to avoid any force to adopt the project thanks to a “compromise” with the right-wing majority in the Senate.
The president of the senators LR Bruno Retailleau welcomed the minister’s concessions “positively”: “I’m not going to complain about it! But I’m waiting impatiently to see how his own majority will react. »
“The comeback of double punishment”
If these measures are not rejected by the National Assembly which must still decide on the bill from December 11, they will also make it possible to withdraw their residence permit from a person who “does not respect the values of the Republic », Further clarified Gérald Darmanin. According to LR boss Bruno Retailleau, “The exceptions have killed the rule” of the expulsion of a foreigner convicted in court and “these exceptions now threaten the French”.
Conversely, the protests from the left had no impact. Environmentalist senator Guy Benarroche criticized in vain the “most dangerous articles” of this bill, which mark “the strong return of double punishment” for convicted foreigners who will find themselves incarcerated and then expelled in quick succession.
Since Monday, the Senate has already given a very right-wing color to the government text, by adopting or tightening several measures which are repressive markers: suppression of state medical aid, land rights, tightening of family reunification, migratory quotas , reinstatement of the offense of illegal residence…
Late Thursday, senators also adopted a measure to restrict the issuance of long-stay visas to nationals of countries that do not issue enough “consular passes”, necessary to enforce expulsions. France may also review the amount of development aid granted to these countries.
Concerns in the left wing of the majority
This tightening of measures causes “stunning” and “deep concern” among the associative fabric. We must “stop the drift initiated in the Senate”, particularly on the occasion of the passage of the text in the National Assembly, launched the Federation of Solidarity Actors (FAS), which brings together 870 associations and organizations which act in the field social security and aid to migrants.
“In the Assembly, we will restore the ambitious text of the executive including the section on regularizations”, promised, Wednesday, the Renaissance deputy Sacha Houlié, incarnation of the social section of the reform. Indeed, in the Assembly, the left wing of the presidential majority will have its say, particularly on the question of medical aid. Like him, several deputies from the “social” wing of the majority will be vigilant. “I will not vote for anything,” warned MP Stella Dupont (En commun), who sits on the Renaissance group, on Monday. “The majority must not walk on one leg,” warned the Young People with Macron.
To win the battle of the Assembly, the former mayor of Tourcoing has already planned to go to all the meetings of the Law Commission at the Palais-Bourbon, from November 27, according to Beauvau, before the arrival of the text in public session on December 11. And if the debates drag on, Gérald Darmanin is even inclined to extend it until the start of 2024, we slip to the Ministry of the Interior.
#Immigration #bill #Senate #strengthens #text #return #National #Assembly