The Law Committee of the National Assembly approved on Thursday a revised version of the article of the immigration bill relating to the regularization of undocumented immigrants in professions in tension, a “compromise” between the initial version of the government and that of the Senate.
We are resolutely opposed to the provisions of the article, declared MP Annie Genevard on behalf of the LR deputies, who voted against. This new version creates neither a discretionary procedure at the discretion of the prefect, as the senators wanted, nor an automatic right to regularization, defended the general rapporteur of the text Florent Boudi (Renaissance).
A version which is not ideal but which is a compromise position, intended to bring this text to fruition, underlined the president of the law commission, Sacha Houli, representative of the left wing of the majority. The government’s initial version (article 3) provided full tenure for undocumented immigrants who have worked at least eight months over the last two years in professions and areas in tension, and present in the territory for at least three years.
The Senate had largely tightened this system (article 4bis), providing for a residence permit granted by the prefects on an exceptional basis, in a strictly regulated procedure, and accompanied by multiple conditions. The senators had notably set as conditions respect for the values of the Republic, verification with the employer of the reality of the alleged activity, and a minimum working period of 12 months.
Towards an annual quota?
The version proposed by Mr. Boudi comes back eight months, removes the intervention of the employer and establishes the possibility for the prefect to object to the issuance of the residence permit in the event of a threat to public order, non-respect of the values of the Republic or even polygamy.
The general rapporteur insisted before the deputies on the need to restore the autonomy of the regularization request from the employerwhile the latter may have an interest in keeping his employee in a precarious situation.
The Minister of the Interior Grald Darmanin supported this rewrite, and, addressing the right worried about a call for air, 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. The government, on the other hand, opposed amendments aimed at restoring its initial version of article 3, carried by the left wing of the majority, the independent Liot group and the PS. The measure, initially limited to the end of 2026, saw the end of its application date pushed back to December 31, 2028.