Four days before an expected decision from the Constitutional Council, a large coalition of opponents of the “immigration” law is calling for demonstrations on Sunday January 21 against the promulgation of a text which, according to them, constitutes the ideological victory “of the extreme right “. By rallying behind an appeal initially launched by 201 personalities, these opponents hope to bring together beyond the traditional activist sphere to put pressure on the executive, which could quickly promulgate the text voted in mid-December, unless completely censored by the councilors of Rue de Montpensier, on January 25, which would be a surprise.
After the January 14 demonstration, during which thousands of people marched at the call of immigrant defense associations, more than 160 marches are planned for Sunday, notably in Paris, where the procession must set off at 2 p.m. Place du Trocadéro. “Caring for unity and solidarity rather than endless division of our society, we ask the President of the Republic not to promulgate this law,” write the authors of the appeal, including many personalities from the world of culture , like the actress Josiane Balasko or the writer Alice Zeniter.
For these signatories from all walks of life, including the bosses of the CFDT and the CGT, Marylise Léon and Sophie Binet, the emergency physician Patrick Pelloux, and the co-founder of Mediapart Edwy Plenel, the law “was written under the dictation of merchants of hatred who dream of imposing their project of “national preference” on France. In question, the numerous additions by Parliament to the initial text, giving a very right-wing color to a law which was to be based on two components – one repressive for “delinquent” foreigners, the other promoting integration. The text now includes many controversial measures, such as toughening access to social benefits, the establishment of migration quotas, or the reinstatement of the “crime of illegal residence”.
“The demonstrations [on Sunday] must demonstrate that public opinion is not with the racists and the fascists,” urged the activist collective Marche des solidarités, on the front line in the streets for several weeks, on Friday. After the unions, more than 300 elected left-wing and environmentalists also called, in Libération, to demonstrate against a text consecrating the “cultural victory of the extreme right under the friendly exterior of “at the same time””. “This law flouts the principles of the French Revolution,” criticized these elected officials, including the councilor of Lille, Martine Aubry (Socialist Party).