A “compromise” according to the presidential camp, a “new red line” crossed for the right: the deputies adopted on Thursday a revised version of a flagship measure of the immigration law, on the regularization of undocumented workers in the trades in tension. The Assembly’s Law Commission largely rewrote the senatorial copy on this point, one of the most sensitive of the bill, supposed to embody its humanist aspect in the face of a series of “firmness” measures.
A “compromise” position
The amendment adopted by the general rapporteur Florent Boudié (Renaissance), does not create either a “discretionary” procedure entirely in the hands of the prefect, as the senators wanted, nor an automatic right to regularization, he argued. A version which is not “ideal” but which is a “compromise” position, intended to “bring this text to fruition”, underlined the president of the commission, Sacha Houlié, representative of the left wing of the Macronist group.
The Senate, dominated by the right, had largely tightened the system proposed by the executive, by providing for a residence permit granted by the prefects “on an exceptional basis”. With multiple conditions, such as “verification” with the employer of the “reality of the activity” and a minimum working period of 12 months. The “compromise” voted on Thursday returns to a duration of eight months of work and eliminates the intervention of the employer. It regulates the possibility for the prefect to oppose the issuance of the residence permit, citing cases of threat to public order, non-respect of the values of the Republic or even polygamy. The measure, initially limited to the end of 2026, saw the end of its application date pushed back to the end of 2028.
“Call for air”
The Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin supported this rewriting, and, addressing the right worried about a “draft”, said he was open to the establishment of a “quota”, for example of “8,000, 10,000 or 5,000” workers who could be regularized per year. On the other hand, he opposed amendments aimed at restoring the government’s initial text, carried by the left wing of the majority, the independent Liot group and… the PS. Proof of “duplicity” on the part of the government, said the boss of the socialist deputies, Boris Vallaud.
Gérald Darmanin had also supported earlier in the morning the reinstatement of an article deleted in the Senate, giving the possibility to certain asylum seekers to work without waiting for the six-month deadline currently in force. The provision concerns those whose nationality indicates a strong chance of obtaining asylum, such as Afghans, Syrians or even Eritreans. The left tried in vain to extend it to all asylum seekers. The right, which the presidential camp is trying not to undermine too much so as not to compromise the chances of adoption of the text, has expressed its discontent. “You have removed the immigration quotas”, “you have re-established the AME”, State Medical Aid for undocumented immigrants, “you have removed the offense of illegal stay”, listed MP LR Annie Genevard.
“No caricature”
With the measure on professions in tension, it is “a fourth red line” which has been crossed according to her: you “dedicate an enforceable right to regularization, “an inexhaustible source of litigation”, launched the elected official. Gérald Darmanin replied at length by drawing up a list of the senatorial additions retained in the text, citing in particular “the maintenance of health insurance requirements to request family reunification”, the control of the “real and serious” nature of the studies to benefit from a multi-year residence permit, or even the French exam to obtain this same card. “Please do not caricature things,” insisted the minister.
The rapporteur Florent Boudié, for his part, questioned the RN, of which a deputy had spoken of the “consequences” of the asylum “on the security of the French”, evoking pell-mell “the decapitation of Samuel Paty”, “the fire of the cathedral of Nantes” or even “the murder of a priest”. “Your words which consist of putting an equal sign between the request for asylum and beheading are disgusting, filthy, shameful,” he responded, calling on him to “stop talking to the lowest instincts”.