The French National Assembly approved a controversial and restrictive immigration law on Tuesdaywhich won the votes of the far right, in a vote that threatened to trigger a political crisis in the president’s administration Emmanuel Macron.

The text was approved with 268 votes in favor (those of the macronist bloc, the conservatives of LR and the far right of the RN) and 186 against, mainly from the left-wing Nupes coalition.

This is a “very large” majority, said Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin at the end of the session, emphasizing his satisfaction. due to the fact that the Macronist bloc, the largest but which does not have an absolute majority, retained its unity.

The voted text is the result of an agreement reached today in a joint committee of the Assembly and the Senate, in which there was a clear majority from the right, and which strengthens the original proposal and It is very similar to the proposal initially approved by the Senate, with a conservative majority.

The coup came when the far-right leader Marine Le Pen He announced that his party (National Rally, RN) would support the text and tried to appropriate its approval by declaring ‘an ideological victory’.

Darmanin denounced that these statements were merely “a political blow” as the RN finally relents on its policy of not accepting more immigrants from outside the European Union.

The text is ‘imperfect’, but ‘allows the regularization of undocumented workers“, about 10,000 per year, in economic sectors under stress, Darmanin said before the plenary session of the General Assembly before the vote, where he criticized the far right for accepting an agreement that he had previously rejected with the aim of ” to lay a political trap’. “

Darmanin also reminded Macronist delegates that, if they maintained voting discipline, the approval would be independent of support from the far right.

The vote in the General Assembly took place shortly after the Senate approved the bill by a comfortable margin of 214 votes in favor and 114 against.

The agreement has disrupted the left wing of macronism, and three of the ministers representing this trend (those of Health, Higher Education and Housing) threatened to resign if the bill was approved.

The three met with the heads of Culture and Industry, as well as the chairman of the General Assembly’s Law Committee, about a possible joint resignation.

Macron convened an emergency meeting at the Elysée with the Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, and with the chairmen of the parties that make up his bloc, as well as with the parliamentary faction heads of these formations.

During that meeting it was agreed not to withdraw the text reached, but instead the possibility of a second reading was opened if the bill were to pass thanks to the extreme right of the RN.

‘Trap’ of the extreme right

After that meeting, Borne went to the General Assembly to meet with the deputies of the macronist group (Renacimiento) to urge them on the importance of voting discipline, after some prominent members of the group announced that they would vote against.

“This is a rude maneuver by the RN, let’s not fall into their trapBorne said during that meeting, as quoted by some deputies present.

Normally, the Macronist bloc and the LR conservatives are already enough to win an absolute majority, and Borne and Macron tried to ensure that the votes of the far right would not be decisive in the event of defections among their ranks.

The agreed text limits to 10,000 workers per year, but does not block the government’s goal of regularizing undocumented immigrants who work in sectors where no workers can be found, such as construction or the catering industry.

In addition, the waiting period will be extended to five years from the current six months, the waiting period during which legal immigrants from outside the EU can apply for housing or family assistance.

The automatic right to work for asylum seekers will also be abolished (Currently there is a six month waiting period). Another element is that the conditions for access to work for foreign students are tightened.

In addition, it establishes the purpose of creating annual immigration quotas, creates the crime of illegal stay on French territory, initially punishable by heavy fines, and provides for the revocation of nationality for binational persons who commit certain crimes.

On the other hand, the entry of minors into administrative detention centers for undocumented immigrants is prohibited and penalties for immigrant traffickers are increased.

It is “the most regressive text” of recent decades, which is deplored in a joint statement by several dozen NGOs that work with immigrants or defend human rights.

The historic leader of the left-wing La Francia Insumisa (LFI, Jean-Luc Mélenchon) denounced that there is no “immigration urgency” to adopt this text and recalled that France will need immigrants. to compensate for the aging of the population. (JO)