Examination of the immigration bill is getting tougher day after day in the Senate, to the great dismay of associations. The government obtained on Thursday, November 9, the adoption of a new legislative turn of the screw, this time on the expulsion of “delinquent” foreigners. On the fourth day of debates, the upper house examined two articles which provide for “the expulsion of foreigners constituting a serious threat to public order”, two articles emblematic of the repressive leg of the text.
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. from the integration aspect, the regularization of undocumented workers in professions in tension adopted in a tougher version the day before.
The provisions voted on Thursday essentially provide for lifting most of the “protections” against expulsion that certain immigrants benefit from (with the exception of minors), including those who arrived in France before the age of 13. The provisions 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.
A “big step forward”, according to Darmanin
This is a “big step forward”, welcomed Gérald Darmanin on X (ex-Twitter) after the adoption 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 lifting them 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.
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”, said Gérald Darmanin again.
“The exceptions have killed the rule” of the expulsion of a foreigner convicted in court and “these exceptions now threaten the French”, declared the boss of the LR senators Bruno Retailleau, before voting for these measures.
The voices and protests of the left had no weight. 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 then expelled in quick succession.
“Stop the drift in the Senate”
Since Monday, November 6, 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, migration quotas, reinstatement of the offense of illegal residence, etc.
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. An all-out hardening which arouses “stunning” and “deep concern” among the associative fabric.
We must “stop the drift underway in the Senate”, particularly on the occasion of the passage of the text in the National Assembly, demanded Thursday the Federation of Solidarity Actors (FAS), which brings together 870 associations and organizations which act in the social field and aid to migrants.
“In the Assembly, we will restore the ambitious text of the executive […] including the section on regularizations”, promised Wednesday at Figaro the Renaissance deputy Sacha Houlié, president of the Law Commission and incarnation of the social aspect of the reform.
At the Palais Bourbon, where the left wing of the presidential majority has more weight than in the Senate, Gérald Darmanin “does not want” the reform of state medical aid adopted two days ago to come to an end , he said Thursday. At the end of the examination, added the Minister of the Interior, “I hope that we will find a compromise, for the security of the French”.