French government approves immigration reform without necessary parliamentary support

The French government approved this Wednesday its immigration reform to regularize workers without papers and accelerate the expulsion of irregular migrants, a new explosive project that lacks the necessary parliamentary support to move forward.

The plan faces rejection from the right-wing opposition party The Republicans (LR), with whom centrist President Emmanuel Macron usually negotiates to achieve a majority, as in the case of the pension reform under discussion.

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LR, whose favorite topics is to denounce the arrival of migrants in France, has in his sights the regularization of undocumented workers in sectors with a shortage of labor, since, in his opinion, it would attract more foreigners .

”We are not in an effect logic called”, said the Minister of Labor, Olivier Dussopt, at a press conference, together with the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin.

Both said they were open to concessions during the parliamentary process.

The government proposes that undocumented workers already present in France obtain a renewable one-year work permit if their position is included in a list of sectors with recruitment problems. Restaurants, hotels, agriculture, construction, domestic workers.

Immigrants occupy positions in key sectors and with staff recruitment problems, exacerbated during the coronavirus health crisis.

Migration is a sensitive issue in France. His link with security has been part of the political agenda for years, promoted by the extreme right of Marine Le Pen, and resurfaces with each criminal act that involves an immigrant.

”Firmness and humanity are needed (…) We cannot receive everyone”, Emmanuel Macron told the newspaper Le Parisien in December, calling on “integrate faster and better” to those who obtain asylum.

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The reform plans to speed up the expulsion of irregular migrants, especially those “delinquents”, and reform the right to asylum, as well as make obtaining a multi-year residence permit conditional on a French test.

The associations that help foreigners expressed this Wednesday their “concern” about a project that will accelerate “the dismantling of rights” of the migrants, under the pressure, in his opinion, of the “blackmail” right.

Source: AFP