Steph Deschamps / September 16, 2022
A bill on asylum and immigration will be tabled "from the beginning of 2023," Emmanuel Macron announced on Thursday 15 September, with the aim of putting an end to an "absurd policy" that he deemed both "ineffective and inhumane. »
A bill on asylum, and therefore on immigration in the Republic, will be tabled at the beginning of 2023," the head of state announced to the prefects, outlining some lines of action. "We have a policy that is both ineffective and inhumane, ineffective because we find ourselves with more illegal aliens than many of our neighbors, inhumane because this pressure means that they are too often poorly received," he said by way of observation.
Among the factors of attractiveness of France, "we have a system of monetary, social and medical aid, much more generous than all our neighbors," he noted. On the reception side, the Head of State considered it necessary to "integrate much faster and much better those who have even a temporary title through language and work," he noted. However, according to him, "our policy today is absurd" because it "consists in putting women and men who arrive, who are in the greatest misery" in the poorest neighborhoods.
The Head of State pleaded for a better distribution of foreigners on the territory, especially in "rural areas, which are losing population", and where "we will have to close classes, probably schools and colleges". In these regions, "the conditions of their reception will be much better than if we put them in areas that are already densely populated, with a concentration of massive economic and social problems", he pleaded, also evoking a policy of "faster learning of the French language, investment in vocational training.
At the same time, Emmanuel Macron promised to "improve the effectiveness of deportation policies" for illegal aliens. In particular, he mentioned the need to make the granting of visas more conditional on "the spirit of cooperation to take back illegal aliens, starting with those who disturb public order.
During his recent trip to Algeria, Emmanuel Macron opened the way, with his counterpart Abdelmajid Tebboune, to a relaxation of the visa regime granted to this country, in exchange for increased cooperation from Algiers in the fight against illegal immigration. Thursday before the prefects, he finally emphasized "two territories that will be the subject of special attention", French Guiana and Mayotte, where "it will undoubtedly (...) change the rules with great force because the geographical and demographic reality of these territories is profoundly different from the rest of the soil of the republic.
In Mayotte, where the right of citizenship has already been tightened in 2018, the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, announced during a trip to the island at the end of August that he wanted to further tighten access to French nationality. Gérald Darmanin has also gone to the front of the line several times on immigration in the heart of the summer, defending his intention to legislate to facilitate the expulsion of foreigners convicted of crimes and assuming a form of "double punishment." He hoped to have his immigration bill examined by Parliament in the autumn, before the Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, imposed a "great debate" on the subject in the autumn, postponing the examination of the bill by several months, which was described by some observers as a "reframing" of the Minister of the Interior.