The previous law on immigration had been greatly censored by the Constitutional Council.
After the government’s announcement of a new immigration law in 2025, the Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau, assured Tuesday on France 2 that he did not want to “go beyond what was voted on” last year and censored by the Constitutional Council.
“There is a law which was passed by an overwhelming majority, about a year ago, by the National Assembly”, “this law was censored for purely formal reasons by the Constitutional Council”, he said. declared the minister.
“I hope that we will be able (…) to finally vote on this text,” he said.
The government announced on Sunday a new law on immigration, the examination of which could begin as early as “early 2025” in Parliament, just one year after the previous text on the subject which had fractured the majority in the National Assembly.
The leader of the Macronist deputies Gabriel Attal affirmed Monday that a new law on the subject did not seem “totally a priority” to him.
“I am not proposing anything more than what was already voted by the majority of Gabriel Attal, once again, a few months ago,” emphasized Bruno Retailleau.
“If this presidential majority voted for all these provisions which were subsequently censored by the Constitutional Council, it is because it considered them to be useful,” he argued.
“What I want, to save lives, is to change the laws. Every time we see that there is a hole in the racket, our job (…) is precisely to change the rules.”
Faced with the lack of places in detention centers, he promised “We are going to build some. We want to reach 3,000 places in two years.” But what is the point of extending the period of detention if the countries of origin do not want to recover their nationals? “With my European colleagues, we saw a certain number of levers,” replies the Minister of the Interior.
“Firmness policy”
“You know that the French are very divided on many subjects. There is one subject on which they are very united (…): it is the resumption of control of migratory flows, in particular for irregular immigration”, according to the minister.
“A majority, including left-wing French people, want the government to apply a firm policy with regard to immigration,” he again assured, denying being a spokesperson for the RN .
The measures censored by the Constitutional Council in January should serve as the basis for the new immigration bill.
Bruno Retailleau insisted that he wanted to reduce the social rights of migrants so that the country would be “less attractive”. It could extend the length of residence necessary for foreigners to benefit from family benefits and transform state medical aid, which covers certain medical care, into “emergency” aid.
He also said he intended to extend the maximum time in administrative detention centers for “dangerous” foreigners from 90 to 210 days.
The minister also intends to tighten the conditions for family reunification.
“My wish is that France is no more attractive in terms of immigration than the rest of the countries of Europe,” Bruno Retailleau insisted on Tuesday.
