AceBreakingNews – UPDATE – The French parliament has passed legislation toughening France’s immigration policy after months of political wrangling.
Ace Press News From Cutting Room Floor: Published: Dec.21: 2023: BBC World News & RT News: TELEGRAM Ace Daily News Link https://t.me/+PuI36tlDsM7GpOJe
Macron under fire over bill targeting immigrants
France’s ruling Renaissance Party has joined forces with the right-wing National Rally (RN) to pass an immigration bill that places curbs on social benefits. The move has outraged the left wing of President Emmanuel Macron’s support base.
The controversial legislation was passed by the lower chamber of the French parliament shortly before midnight on Tuesday by 349 votes to 186. The proposal had been championed by Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, who said it was necessary to sway the public away from RN and its leader Marine Le Pen ahead of the 2027 presidential election. Macron cannot contest the election, having served two consecutive terms.
If signed into law, the bill would require foreigners to live in France for five years before qualifying for social benefits, or 30 months for those who have jobs. It also introduces migration quotas, makes it harder for the children of migrants to gain French citizenship, and provides for it to be stripped from felons who have dual nationality. The restrictions were added to win the support of right-wing lawmakers.
Le Pen described the passage of the bill as “an ideological victory,” since it makes immigration controls a national priority set in law.
There is a possibility that Macron may refuse to sign the bill, according to dozens of public figures who signed a petition published by the daily L’Humanite calling the president not to endorse the legislation. They called the vote a betrayal of trust by Macron, after voters rallied behind him against Le Pen during the 2022 election. The “law of hatred and division,” the petition warned, “opens the way to the worst.”
The bill has caused a rift in Macron’s government. Health Minister Aurelien Rousseau tendered his resignation on Wednesday in protest, and Agence France-Presse sources claimed other ministers may quit as well.
Macron defended the bill during an interview with the ‘C a vous’ television program on Wednesday, in his first public remarks since the parliament vote. He denied betraying supporters and called the reform “a shield that we needed” to discourage illegal immigrants, which, he claimed, will undercut sentiments that nourish NR.
An Elabe opinion poll has shown that 70% of French voters support the passage of the bill. Almost seven in ten saw it as an effective tool for expelling foreigners who pose a threat to the public, while six in ten expect it to tackle illegal migration. People surveyed gave more credit to Le Pen’s party than to Macron’s party for the bill.
The amended bill was backed by both President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist Renaissance party and Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (RN).
The vote divided Mr Macron’s party, and the health minister Aurélien Rousseau announced he was going to resign.
Left-wing parties accused Mr Macron of making concessions to the far right.
A previous draft was rejected by parliament last week, by National Rally as well as the left. In response, the government redrafted the bill, making some of its provisions tougher.
The new legislation makes it more difficult for migrants to bring family members to France and delays their access to welfare benefits.
It also bans detaining minors in detention centres.
The tougher version appealed to right-wing parties, who backed it on Monday.
Ms Le Pen welcomed the amended bill, calling it an “ideological victory” for the far-right.
“This is our bill,” said Eric Ciotti, the leader of the right-wing Republican party. He called the bill “firm and courageous”.
But left-wingers said Mr Macron was enabling the far-right. “History will remember those who betrayed their convictions,” Socialist party leader Olivier Faure said.
Officials in the left-led Lot area of central France said they would refuse to implement some provisions in the law.
The French vote came hours before an EU agreement to reform the asylum system across the bloc’s 27 member states.
The new pact, agreed by EU governments and European Parliament members, includes creating border detention centres and enabling the quicker deportation of rejected asylum seekers.
Hailed as a landmark agreement by Parliament President Roberta Metsola, the new system allows asylum seekers to be relocated from southern member states, which have the highest numbers of arrivals, to other countries.
It still has to be formally approved by the Parliament and member states.
The new French legislation exposed divisions within the governing alliance. 27 MPs voted against while 32 abstained – almost a quarter of pro-Macron MPs.
Health Minister Aurélien Rousseau, who was a member of the Communist party in his youth, told Le Monde newspaper on Wednesday that he intended to step down in protest at the immigration law. Several other ministers are reportedly on the verge of quitting.
“Some measures in the bill make me very uncomfortable,” said Yaël Braun-Pivet, the president of the lower house of parliament, referring to restrictions on benefits for legal migrants.
The bill would have passed if Ms Le Pen’s party had abstained, though not if it had voted against. The government pointed to the size of its majority to argue that it did not depend on National Rally votes.
Speaking after the vote, the prime minister accepted some measures in the law might not be constitutional.
“We will ask the Constitutional Council,” she told French radio, referring to a top court which upholds the constitution’s principles.
Human rights groups denounced the new reform as the most regressive immigration law for decades.
Mr Macron’s party lost its majority in parliament in elections in June 2022. Since then, the government has frequently found itself unable to win votes in parliament.
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