Immigration law: the deputies-senators meeting stalled, resumed Tuesday morning

The conclave of deputies and senators who must decide the fate of the immigration law must resume Tuesday morning, after being interrupted during the night, stumbling over last minute disagreements between the executive and the right which cast clouds over this text as on the future of Emmanuel Macron’s five-year term.

“I think we’re going to have an agreement,” says Darmanin

Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said on Tuesday his “confidence” in the fact that an agreement will be found on the immigration law at the end of the parliamentary committee, with a vote which according to him could take place “at the beginning of the evening “.

“I think we are going to have an agreement, I hope so, we are doing everything for it” but “not at any price, not under any conditions”, he added on France 2, explaining that “the government wants to distinguish between those who work and those who do not work”. “This is a line that is very important for us and we will not give in on this,” he insisted.

Bruno Retailleau asks Élisabeth Borne to “respect her commitments” to find an agreement

The head of LR senators, Bruno Retailleau, demanded Tuesday that Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne “respect her commitments” on a restriction of housing assistance for foreigners in order to reach an agreement on the immigration bill.

“The question is crucial,” he said on Public Senate, estimating that at this stage “the path has not been found” for a compromise and adding that the joint committee (CMP) of deputies/senators, interrupted on the night of Monday to Tuesday “can last as long as it lasts”.

An unexpected dispute over family allowances

Already slowed down from its start at 5:00 p.m. by a 4-hour suspension, this joint joint commission (CMP), which many thought would end in the evening, was finally stopped at 12:30 a.m., and will not resume until Tuesday at 10:30 a.m., with again several dozen articles to examine. While an agreement was emerging between the right and the presidential camp, the negotiations suffered from an unexpected dispute over family allowances.

The right wants to make social benefits conditional on five years of presence in the territory (30 months for those who work), including personalized housing assistance (APL), which the majority on the contrary wish to see escape these restrictions. This Macronist position “does not comply” with the “commitments”, protested on the social network X the boss of senators LR Bruno Retailleau. The boss of Renaissance deputies Sylvain Maillard criticized the right-wing Les Républicains party for “not keeping” the agreement concluded before the CMP.

The measure, which has become tense to the point of threatening the text in its entirety, has already been postponed until the end of the debates, the time to find a new agreement. A delegation of majority deputies responsible for the immigration bill made a quick visit to Matignon on Monday evening before returning to their seats.

This CMP is “a masquerade of democracy”

This CMP is “a masquerade of democracy”, castigated the leader of the La France insoumise group Mathilde Panot, calling in unison with several left-wing elected officials for the withdrawal of the text. The executive had promised to do so in the event of failure of the CMP. “All subjects are possible on the APL,” said Renaissance deputy Guillaume Kasbarian, but these questions “are not resolved at midnight the day before” a vote on the entire text. “We will be extremely firm on the fact that the APL are part of the final text,” promised LR Pierre-Henri Dumont.

Several measures introduced by the right in the Senate validated by the CMP

While waiting for the arrival of the famous article on allowances, the CMP validated several measures introduced by the right in the Senate: multi-year immigration quotas defined in Parliament, an offense of illegal residence punishable by a fine, or even a restriction access to reduced transport fares for undocumented immigrants. “The majority has given in on all the red lines and has crossed the navy blue lines,” denounced the president of the socialist group Boris Vallaud, member of the CMP, to journalists.

Several thousand demonstrators also marched in France on Monday at the call of collectives to call for “resistance” against a “denial of republican values”. “We are delighted that this text includes a considerable number of proposals from Marine Le Pen”, underlines on the contrary the RN deputy Edwige Diaz.

A crucial step for Emmanuel Macron’s second five-year term

The main obstacles, however, seemed to have been removed before this meeting of seven deputies and seven senators from all sides supposed to seek the ultimate compromise. Adding to the drama, the Prime Minister had responded at the last minute to an ultimatum from the right on State medical aid, promising in writing to “initiate at the beginning of 2024” a reform of this system which allows foreigners without papers to benefit from medical care.

For Emmanuel Macron, who advocated “an intelligent compromise” on Friday, this is a crucial step in his second five-year term. To reach an agreement, he had to endorse a clear shift to the right at the risk of disuniting the presidential camp. Some elected officials favorable to the president nevertheless admit to counting on the Constitutional Council to censor several very right-wing measures, such as the tightening of family reunification or the establishment of annual migration quotas.

The right also seems to have won its case on the regularization of undocumented workers in professions in shortage, which would remain at the discretion of the prefects. If the latest dissensions are finally overcome, the text of the CMP will return to each chamber. The Senate’s vote seems certain, but that of the Assembly is much more uncertain due in particular to the divisions in the presidential camp.

Borne will try to convince the recalcitrants of the left wing

Élisabeth Borne, whose government survived a new motion of censure in the Assembly in the evening, was expected Tuesday morning to face the Renaissance deputies to try to convince the recalcitrants of the left wing. “Despite the snakes swallowed, we are keeping the measures that we had taken”, positive one elected official, insisting on “the interest of showing that we are still capable of legislating”.

The members of the centrist Liot group, until now in support of the government, also risk dividing. And even the LR, reputed to be poorly disciplined, could count opponents in their ranks around the rebellious Aurélien Pradié.