The French government has confirmed it will bring a new immigration bill to be debated in the Assemblée nationale at the start of 2025.
Its main aim would be to lengthen the time immigrants deemed dangerous can be held in detention centres before being extradited, but will likely include other proposals, said government spokesperson Maud Bregeon.
A major immigration bill was signed into law at the beginning of 2024, meaning the new proposals will be debated only a year after the last changes.
It will be the 33rd time in 44 years that changes to the immigration law will be debated.
Current Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, who will spearhead the bill, is notably a hardliner on immigration and proposed various amendments to the immigration bill that passed earlier this year.
What may be added to the bill?
The announcement of the government’s intentions comes in light of the murder of a female student called Philippine, a teenager whose body was found in the Bois du Boulogne (Paris) in September.
It is believed she was killed by a Moroccan national who had left a detention centre earlier in the month, as he had reached the 90-day limit for him to stay in the facility.
The government was waiting for his extradition request to be approved by the Moroccan authorities, but could not keep him detained past this 90-day limit.
Read more: Man arrested in Switzerland over death of French student
To this effect the main aim of the law is ‘“the extension of detention periods in administrative detention centres” for dangerous foreigners who have been asked to leave the country, said Miss Bregeon to BFMTV.
Non-French people who are asked to leave France are subject to an obligation de quitter le territoire français (obligation to leave French territory).
Currently, there is a 90-day limit on how long such ‘illegal’ foreigners can be kept in detention centres where required (except in cases of terrorism) whilst the French authorities wait for extradition requests to be approved.
The government wants to more than double this limit, to a maximum of 210 days.
However, the government “does not refrain from considering other measures”, Miss Bregeon added, reiterating the prime minister’s words that there are “no taboos when it comes to protecting the French,” under the new administration.
Read more: Immigration and mental health: New French PM outlines his priorities
Architect of new bill is anti-immigration stalwart
Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau presided over The Republicans group in the Senate when the earlier immigration bill was debated at the beginning of this year.
Read more: France’s interior minister ‘regrets’ that immigration referendum is not possible
He spearheaded a push to force through strict right-wing measures into the bill, many of which were ultimately accepted by the government as they sought the Senate’s (and the far-right) approval of the legislation in order for it to pass.
He will subsequently be in charge of outlining the new bill to be brought to the Assemblée nationale.
Additional policies that were added to the last immigration bill by Mr Retailleau and others included a quota on the number of migrants allowed to enter France, the reintroduction of a government office to crack down on illegal residents, stricter measures on collecting the university deposits of foreign students, and stricter rules for attaining the family regroupment visa.
Significant portions of the strict immigration law passed by parliament were ultimately rejected by the Conseil Constitutionnel (France’s top constitutional authority, which can reject some or all of a law before it comes into force).
Read more: LIST: what was kept and what was rejected in French immigration law
They were largely rejected on procedural grounds, therefore not being deemed ‘unconstitutional’.
This means that such policies may make an appearance in the upcoming bill, and if so, may not be rejected.
Is it likely to pass?
The final bill voted on last year was heavily influenced by right-wing forces, both in the Senate and the Assemblée nationale as the minority government accepted amendments to the bill in order to ensure its passage.
It is likely to be the same this time, especially with Mr Retailleau leading the bill’s creation.
To guarantee the bill passes a vote, the government will need to rely on support (or at least, not opposition) from the far-right Rassemblement National (RN) and its allies – it is all but a certainty the left-wing forces in the parliament will vote against the bill.
This means, then, the government may have to veer towards more extreme anti-immigrant policies to garner the support it needs from the far-right, as they know there is no chance of backing from the left.
Government spokesperson Miss Bregeon said ministers “will not seek the support of the RN” for the immigration bill, and would consult with all parliamentary groups about its creation.
However, the current make-up of the Assemblée makes it all but impossible to pass a bill without the RN’s implicit approval, as the opposition of the far-right essentially dooms any bill from passing (left-wing MPs will almost always vote against the government, with the number of MPs on the extremes of the chamber far outweighing those backing the government).
In addition, even some centrist MPs part of the governing coalition may come out in opposition of the bill, if deemed too extreme.
Former prime minister Gabriel Attal said he does not believe it is a priority for a new debate on immigration to take place.
“Some of the measures [from the most recent bill] are not yet in force, because the decrees have not yet been issued,” he said this morning to media outlet France Inter.
“There's no point in making a law for the sake of making a law… what counts is not so much whether or not we make a law, but what we want to put in,” he added.
