what the text examined in the Assembly contains

2023-11-20 22:59:00

The version of the immigration law, after its passage in the Senate, took a turn to the right, with more severe measures. On the program of this new version, which will be examined in the National Assembly from December 11: removal of barriers to the expulsion of delinquent foreigners, end of state medical aid, tightening of family reunification, regularization of case by case in professions in tension… The text is no longer that supported by the government.

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This provides in particular for simplified expulsions, in the event of a serious threat to public order or state security, to remove 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 or have resided in the territory for more than twenty years.

A turn of the screw for delinquent foreigners

These provisions, desired by the government and toughened by the senatorial majority of the right and the center, target people who have been convicted of crimes or offenses punishable by five years or more of imprisonment.

As the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin wished since the Arras attack, the withdrawal of the residence permit of a person who “adhers to a radical jihadist ideology” is also permitted by the text, according to Beauvau. On the other hand, confinement in detention centers for minors under the age of 16 is prohibited.

Severity at all levels

Initially composed of 27 articles, the bill will include nearly a hundred when it arrives at the Bourbon Palace, with several turns of the screw. It now plans to “tighten the criteria for family reunification”, in particular by strengthening the conditions of residence and resources of an applicant.

State medical aid (AME), covering the health costs of people in an irregular situation, has been abolished in favor of “emergency medical aid”, focused on “serious illnesses”, related care during pregnancy or even regulatory vaccinations.

Other additions from the senatorial right: the establishment of “migratory quotas”, the reinstatement of the offense of illegal residence (only accompanied by a fine), or even the end of the automaticity of land law allowing children born in France of foreign parents to obtain French nationality upon reaching the age of majority.

More conditioned aid

As for development aid, it could be “conditional on the issuance by third countries of consular passes” necessary for expulsions.

Foreigners will also have to prove five years of residence to be able to benefit from allowances such as personalized housing assistance (APL) or family allowances, compared to six months currently, if this version came into force.

The reformed asylum system

The government passed its structural reform of asylum with a dual objective: to speed up procedures and expel more quickly, while the rate of execution of OQTFs (obligations to leave French territory) fell to 6.9% in first half of 2022.

One of the measures aims to issue an OQTF as soon as an asylum application is rejected at first instance, without waiting for a possible appeal.

Foreigners’ disputes, which clog up the administrative courts, have been largely simplified. Twelve procedures now make it possible to contest an expulsion: this has been divided by three.

What about regularizations in professions in tension?

The flagship measure of the text was clearly restricted, after tough negotiations. Undocumented workers working in professions in shortage will be able to obtain a one-year residence permit “exceptionally” and not automatically as provided for in the initial project.

The procedure, at the hands of the prefects, is accompanied by multiple conditions, such as having worked twelve months over the last two years or respecting the “values ​​of the Republic”.

The measure nevertheless retains the government’s strong idea: that workers can submit a request for regularization themselves, without obtaining the approval of their employer, who does not always have an interest in it.

Still in the integration aspect, the Senate made the issuance of a multi-year residence permit subject to mastery of a “minimum level of French”. To obtain it, you will now have to pass a language exam.

Rare social advances

The left, a minority in the Senate, obtained the reinstatement of some measures that the right intended to remove, such as the toughening of sanctions for employers of illegal labor and the obligation for employers to arrange working hours. to certain employees to allow them to take French lessons.

Final success, Friday: the vote on an amendment aimed at granting a temporary residence permit to undocumented immigrants who file complaints against their owners abusing unworthy accommodation conditions, to fight against slumlords.