France’s Immigration Crackdown Starts to Crumble

 By Kaitlyn Harries

France has long been considered a bright spot for immigration and immigration remains a central political debate year on year.[1] On average, France has passed a formal law on immigration every two (2) years since 1945.[2] France’s formal immigration system came about during World War II with increased demand for labor following the end of the War.[3] Since that time, France’s immigration policies have ebbed and flowed from restrictive to open based on the political control at the time.[4] Under Macron, the French government has aimed to promote a balance between “humanity and firmness,” but in more recent years, has imposed more restrictive measures to combat political challenges from the growing far-right parties.[5] In 2018, French Parliament passed the Collomb Law which increased the maximum detention for migrants entering without authorization, shortened asylum application deadlines, and increased the possibility of deporting rejected asylum seekers.[6] Yet, that same law extended family reunification pathways to include more family members, and facilitated the entry and stay of international students and highly qualified workers.[7] As the needs of the French economy and labor sectors change, so too do the immigration policies, but in December, the French Parliament marked a substantial shift in policy.

Following the European Union (“EU”)’s agreement on Migration and Asylum in December, the French Parliament passed a law reforming the country’s immigration approach to combat illegal immigration.[8] In an effort to prevent a lame duck status of president, Macron made the political move to toughen the bill to gain the support of Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (“NR”).[9] To parties like NR, immigration is viewed as posing a potential threat to the French identity and security. NR draws attention to the economic and social costs resulting from increased immigration and have been advocating for closing France’s boarders for years.[10] While Macron has publicly stated he does not agree with all aspects of the law, tightening the legislation was necessary for the sake of compromise.[11]

The new bill tightens up immigration controls. Some of the features of the new bill include migration quotas, longer delays for non-EU foreigners to receive welfare, provide residency permits to address labor shortages in the restaurant, building, and agriculture industries, tightening of family reunification rules and birthright citizenship is no longer automatic.[12] With these restrictions, immigrants’ children will have a more difficult time becoming French citizens, access to housing benefits will be delayed for unemployed, non-EU migrants by five (5) years, and while it will be easier for migrants working in sectors experiencing a labor shortage to get a residency permit, it will also be easier to deport illegal migrants.[13] Social security benefits for foreigners will now be conditioned on being present in France for at least five (5) years or thirty (30) months for those who have jobs.[14]

French Parliament voting on a new immigration bill. Image courtesy of Ludovic Marin/AFP.

In the making, this bill endured eighteen (18) months of review and revision before the vote in December 2023.[15] A previous draft of the legislation had been voted down before even making it to the floor to debate.[16] France has long held itself out as having the most generous welfare system, making payments for foreigners to help offset childcare costs and rent.[17] As the RN gains traction and currently stands as the single biggest opposition party in Parliament.[18]Originally, Macron’s proposed bill was intended to show that he could take tough measures on migration while keeping France open to foreign workers who could help stimulate the French economy in sectors struggling to fill positions.[19]However, with the rise of the RN, Macron succumbed to political pressures to give in to some of the more far-right immigration ideas in an effort to stave off losing a majority in the Parliamentary elections next year.[20]

Following the vote, French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne resigned following the political turmoil caused by the controversial immigration law.[21] Macron’s centralist alliance was able to pass the measure after making a deal with the conservative Republican party.[22] While a political feat for Macron given the fact Parliament has not had a majority since the 2022 election, dozens of Non-governmental Organizations (“NGOs”) have publicly slammed the new immigration measure “as potentially the ‘most regressive’ immigration law in decades.”[23]

Since the passage of the bill, citizens took to the street to protest the more restrictive aspects of the bill. In response to the protests and public outcry, Macron referred the bill to the Constitutional Council to determine the constitutionality of the bill.[24] Reports from the Interior Minister indicate four (4) days prior to the Constitutional Council’s ruling on the bill, seventy-five thousand (75,000) people participated across the country.[25] On January 25, France’s Constitutional Council threw out thirty- two (32) of the eighty-six (86) proposals in the bill on the grounds the provisions were unconstitutional.[26] The Council acts as a body that validates the constitutionality of laws.[27] Some of these provisions include the delayed access to social benefits, the migration quotas, and the family reunification.[28] The Council decided to strike down these provisions on the account they were unrelated to the law’s subject, but the Council noted that these provisions could be adopted in the future under a different bill.[29] Because the Council struck down the provisions on procedural grounds, the substance of the provisions were not considered.[30] This begs the question of when those provisions will realistically be brought before the French government in a new bill to implement the policies. However, the road to passage may be much more difficult given the political deals required to get the bill passed, the public outcry, and the political division that followed the bill passage.

[1] Ekrame Boubtane, France Reckons with Immigration Amid Reality of Rising Far Right, Migration Policy Institute (May 5, 2022), https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/france-immigration-rising-far-right.

[2] Id.

[3] Id.

[4] Id.

[5] Id.

[6] Id.

[7] Id.

[8] Shairee Malhotra, France Moves to the Right on Immigration, Observer Research Foundation (Jan. 15, 2024), https://www.orfonline.org/research/france-moves-to-the-right-on-immigration.

[9] France Passes Tough Immigration Bill Amid Macron Party Rebellion, Aljazeera (Dec. 20, 2023), https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/12/20/france-passes-tough-immigration-bill-amid-macron-party-rebellion.

[10] Boubtane, supra note 1.

[11] France Passes Tough Immigration Bill Amid Macron Party Rebellion, supra note 9.

[12] Geert De Clercq, French Immigration Bill Tightens Welfare Benefits for Foreigners, Reuters (Dec. 20, 2023), https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/french-immigration-bill-tightens-welfare-benefits-foreigners-2023-12-20/.

[13] ‘Panders to Rightwing’: France Passes New, ‘Strict’ Immigration Bill, The Wire (Dec. 20, 2023), https://thewire.in/world/panders-to-rightwing-france-passes-new-strict-immigration-bill.

[14] News Wire, French Parliament Adopts Toughened Immigration Law Backed by Far Right, French 24 (Dec. 19, 2023), https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20231219-french-parliament-adopts-controversial-immigration-law.

[15] Malhotra, supra note 8.

[16] France Passes Tough Immigration Bill Amid Macron Party Rebellion, supra note 9.  

[17] Id.

[18] Angelique Chrisafis, France Passes Controversial Immigration Bill Amid Deep Division in Macron’s Party, The Guardian (Dec. 19, 2023), https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/20/france-immigration-bill-passed-controversy-emmanuel-macron-marine-le-pen.

[19] Id.

[20] Id.

[21] French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne Resigns Following Recent Political Tensions Over Immigration, WBALTV11 (Jan. 8, 2024), https://www.wbaltv.com/article/french-prime-minister-elisabeth-borne-resigns-following-recent-political-tensions-over-immigration/46317352#.

[22] Id.

[23] News Wire, supra note 14.

[24] Top French Court Rejects Large Parts of Controversial Immigration Bill, Aljazeera (Jan. 25, 2024), https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/1/25/top-french-court-rejects-large-parts-of-controversial-immigration-bill.

[25] French Protesters Ask Macron Not to Sign Off On An Immigration Law with a Far-Right Footprint, AP News (Jan. 21, 2024), https://apnews.com/article/france-immigration-law-protests-macron-constitutional-court-cc3f30b40de37df1ad6b2eeb346c4283.

[26] Sonya Ciesnik, French Immigration Law: What are the Measures Deemed Unconstitutional, France 24 (Jan. 25, 2024), https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20240125-french-immigration-law-what-are-the-measures-deemed-unconstitutional.

[27] Top French Court Rejects Large Parts of Controversial Immigration Bill, supra note 24.

[28] Ciesnik, supra note 26.

[29] Top French Court Rejects Large Parts of Controversial Immigration Bill, supra note 24.

[30] Abel Mestre and Julia Pascual, French Immigration Law: Constitutional Council Rejects Measures Largely on Procedural Grounds, Le Monde (Jan. 26, 2024), https://www.lemonde.fr/en/france/article/2024/01/26/french-immigration-law-constitutional-council-rejects-measures-largely-on-procedural-grounds_6466765_7.html.