Bruno Retailleau reveals his ideas for “taking back control”

POLITICS – He affirms “know what the French want”. The Minister of the Interior Bruno Retailleau detailed in The Parisian this Wednesday, October 9, its tracks for “take back control” on immigration. His roadmap “includes an international response, a European response and a national response”.

At the international level first, Bruno Retailleau, a supporter of a hard line on immigration, wants “use all levers to put pressure on the countries of origin, so that they issue us with consular permits to execute the OQTF (Obligation to leave French territory)”. Without them, it is in fact impossible to expel a foreigner from the country. By pressure lever, the minister means visas, development aid and customs duties.

If this foreigner comes from a country where the political situation is dangerous – he takes the example of Afghanistan – the minister suggests having “use of transit countries”. Bruno Retailleau adds that he wants to name “a mission dominici in the coming weeks, which will be responsible for developing agreements with these transit countries”.

Replace the Valls circular

At the European level then, the tenant of Beauvau wants “anticipate the application of the immigration asylum package by six months from January 2026”. The text was voted on last May and states have two years to implement it. It increases controls outside EU borders and establishes a solidarity mechanism between member states in the event of a migratory wave.

Finally at the national level, Bruno Retailleau indicates that he will “send two circulars to the prefects in the coming weeks”. “A first which will clarify their steering role”, he explains. According to The World, he thereby seeks to assign objectives to the prefects. “The second which will replace the Valls circular. We must only regularize things little by little, based on the reality of the work and real integration criteria,” he continues.

Since 2012, the Valls circular allows prefects to exceptionally regularize up to 30,000 people per year for reasons of “ private and family life » (according to several criteria: children in school and presence in France for several years) or for work (in particular by justifying presence in the territory for several years and a certain number of salary slips).

New immigration law, short sentences…

The Minister of the Interior rejects any criticism concerning a circumvention of Parliament with these measures. “The regulatory route and the legislative route are perfectly complementary”he says, also saying he is in favor of a new law to complete the immigration law to be voted on at the end of 2023 and partly censored by the Constitutional Council.

Bruno Retailleau also wants the maximum length of stay in an administrative detention center (CRA) to be extended from 90 to 210 days. “for the perpetrators of sexual crimes, as we currently do with terrorists”. A reference to the death of Philippine, a 22-year-old student killed by a man under OQTF.

Finally, he reiterated his desire to reinstate the short sentences prohibited by the Belloubet law of 2019. “Particularly for the youngest, we immediately need a ban, a certain sanction, which can break the delinquent path, from the first offenses. Let us create differentiated establishments, adapted in particular to minors, to implement these short sentences”he calls.

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