The French immigration law has suffered the first blow as soon as it reaches the Assembly for debate on Monday. The parliamentary majority has unexpectedly approved a preliminary rejection motion presented by environmentalists. This implies that there will be no examination of the text in the Assembly. The motion has had the votes of the left-wing parties (socialists, communists and La Francia Insumisa), but also of the extreme right of National Regrouping, Marine Le Pen’s party, and the conservative formation of Los Republicanos.
This is a hard blow for the Government, which does not have a majority in the Assembly and has a difficult time carrying out the laws, but above all for the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, whose political future is jeopardized. The minister has acknowledged the failure and has presented his resignation to the president, Emmanuel Macron, who has rejected it.
The key has been in Los Republicanos, a conservative wing party in whose ranks Darmanin was active and the key to the Government to be able to approve his reforms, since he needs their votes. The party had already made it clear that it would not admit changes to the text that the Senate approved a few weeks ago.
The Immigration Law seeks to control flows, but above all to facilitate the expulsions of foreigners who have committed crimes or those who pose a threat to the Republic. The approval of the motion was by a few votes, 270 in favor and 265 against, but it has united the entire opposition. There are five deputies from the Macronist party who were absent from the vote.
The Government’s options from now on are several, although none are very favourable: in principle, the text continues its parliamentary process and returns to the Senate. There a second reading of the project will take place. This chamber, especially due to the influence of the Republicans, already toughened the original project, which was more balanced and tried to please the left and the right.
For example, the article that allowed the regularization of undocumented immigrants who work in jobs where there is a lack of labor was weakened and it was voted to eliminate State medical aid for those without papers. The left and the presidential majority were counting on modifying the norm in the Assembly, and returning it to the original spirit, through the discussion of amendments, but the Republicans had warned that they were not going to accept a retouched text.
Another option that the Government has is to convene the mixed parliamentary commission, made up of parliamentarians and senators, to propose an alternative text, but as it is dominated by the right, a consensus is difficult. The third option is to withdraw the law, but Darmanin, in an interview on the TF1 network, said that this option is not being considered.
The opposition to the Government has quickly called for Darmanin’s resignation: “The text that was going to be debated in the Assembly cannot respond to the immigration challenges” of the country, declared Eric Ciotti, president of Los Republicanos. Jordan Bardella, president of National Rally, has called for Darmanin’s resignation, considering that he is disempowered, and Marine Le Pen has announced that she will present an alternative bill: “I have no doubt that it will be accepted by the majority,” she said. .
What happened on Monday illustrates Macron’s difficulties in the remainder of his mandate to approve his reforms, since the Government is in a minority and the reliability of his partners (The Republicans) has been called into question. The pension reform already had to be approved by decree (through article 49.3 of the Constitution, which allows it to be done without a vote), due to doubts about having the necessary support. It was last March and his approval by force caused strong riots throughout the country.
Darmanin, who has so far refused to make use of the controversial article 49.3 with this law, said in his speech in the Assembly that “rejecting the debate on immigration is rejecting an issue that worries the French.” “The sovereignty of a people consists of its ability to set rules, such as what proportion of immigration society accepts and under what conditions we can guarantee its integration. There is no immigration without integration,” he added. At the end of their speech, the representatives of Los Republicanos, already showing their intention to vote, left the Chamber.