Until it became unstuck, the sticking point – as far as France’s right wing was concerned – for the Macron government’s sweeping immigration bill was how to deal with the country’s undocumented migrants.
In presenting the bill's initial text a year ago, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin and Labour Minister Olivier Dussopt included provisions making it easier to legalise undocumented migrants working in sectors with labour shortages. But representatives from Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally party repeatedly stated they would not endorse legislation granting undocumented workers legal status.
After the language of the bill was significantly weakened in a joint committee, Le Pen saw an opening for a strategic victory and changed course; it passed the National Assembly (lower house) on Tuesday with Le Pen's endorsement.
While it does not go as far as the original text, the new law gives undocumented workers in high-demand occupations a path to obtaining residency permits. Speaking a day after the law was passed, Darmanin said he expects the number of legalisations (régularisations) to double, with “ten thousand additional foreign workers each year".
At the same time, the law will make it more difficult – and more risky – for undocumented workers in France: a law abolished by former president François Hollande that allowed police to fine foreigners up to €3,750 if they are found to be in the country unlawfully has been reintroduced. The bill also steps up sanctions against companies employing illegal workers.
‘Sans papiers’
The number of undocumented workers, or what the French call the “sans papiers” (without papers), is impossible to calculate. Darmanin himself estimates the number to be between 600,000 and 900,000.
Amadou* moved to France from Mali on a work visa in 2001 (overstaying a legal visa is the most common path to becoming an undocumented migrant in Europe).
Finding work has never been a problem. He has primarily worked in the hospitality sector and in retirement homes – he currently works at a restaurant in Paris’s 7th arrondissement (district). “I’ve been working in France for 19 years without a holiday, without any sick days or absences,” he says.
Amadou first applied for working papers – to no avail – in 2012. The second time he applied, in 2018, he was denied because he didn’t have children or a partner to support. Since then, despite help from his employer, he has been unable to get another meeting.
Amadou belongs to an association that supports undocumented migrants in Montreuil, a suburb just east of Paris. He often participates in protests but realises he and people like him are largely powerless. “I’d like to get my papers but, considering it’s [the politicians] who decide, we are not their priority,” he says.
France’s right-wing Les Republicains party and the far-right National Rally are reluctant to endorse a path towards legalisation because they believe migrants choose France for its advantageous social system. Therefore, the logic goes, making life difficult for migrants will prevent more migrants from coming – an idea that has no grounding in research.
By contrast, studies have found that legalising migrants has positive macroeconomic and fiscal outcomes in developed countries.
Citing research from the Institute of Labour Economics, French economist Pierre Cahuc argued for the significant advantages that legalisation can have on a country's economy in the French financial daily Les Echos.
“It is a crucial factor to take into account in the context of low growth and an ageing population,” Cahuc said. “From a purely fiscal standpoint, legalisation could also have a positive impact since declared work generates income for the state coffers.”
Violaine Carrère, a lawyer at Gisti, an immigrant information and support group, agrees. “When you are on a payroll, you pay into social security. And with a real salary, you can spend more."
Not only does it benefit the economy, Carrère says, becoming legal enables migrants "to integrate fully and lead a dignified life".
“Staying stuck, working all the time – it’s not a life that many people would want to live,” says Amadou.
“Everyone wants to be happy, have a good life, a roof and a family. If you’re a sans papier it’s all out of reach.”
Labour shortages
Under French President Emmanuel Macron, unemployment has fallen to 7.4% of the workforce, the lowest level in more than a decade. He has pledged to continue this mission, pushing for full employment (which the country’s labour organisation considers to be 5%).
At the same time, eight out of 10 professions in France saw labour shortages in 2022, according to the Directorate for Research, Studies and Statistics (Direction de l'Animation de la recherche, des Études et des Statistiques). This increased from seven out of 10 in 2021 due to France’s ageing population and a wave of resignations.
Targeting low domestic unemployment rates while seeking a concurrent increase in migrant labour might seem contradictory. But it is simply not possible to make up for France’s worker shortfalls with a supply of domestic labour that is mostly young – some 17% of French youth are unemployed, significantly higher than the EU average.
Research is focusing on three central reasons for this, says migration policy analyst Anna Piccinni. The first and second are skill disparities and remuneration: much of the increasingly qualified youth are not motivated by low-skilled jobs, especially if the salary level is not what they expect.
Piccinni’s third reason is that labour shortages are often localised and migrants offer a more mobile labour force – filling the gaps that non-migrant workers might be unable or unwilling to fill. “Often, shortages of low-skilled labour are not in urban areas, where the youth move for their studies and then stick around for jobs,” she says. “Migrants have the potential to fill these gaps.”
Indeed, she points out that many municipalities across Europe are now creating incentives to retain migrant populations – such as Altena, a small town in Germany known for its successful integration scheme.
This point has not been lost on France's business community. Speaking to Radio Classique in the lead-up to Tuesday’s vote, Patrick Martin, who heads the French entrepreneurs' union, said relying on a foreign labour force is necessary for the country.
“We are already experiencing enormous recruitment pressure,” Martin said. “We have to call a spade a spade and make a choice" to allow a larger immigrant workforce.
For Piccinni, this cannot be achieved without fewer bureaucratic hurdles for issuing work permits to migrants who have already demonstrated a commitment to participating in the economy. “This has to be part of the solution,” she says.
Even the most anti-immigration governments in Europe are doing this, she points out. Georgia Meloni’s government in Italy signed a decree in March allowing 82,000 non-EU migrant workers to work in the country because of seasonal labour shortages.
“Beyond the perception of migration as a threat to social cohesion and security, some governments are aware and willing to recognise the role it has in [fulfilling] employers' needs,” Piccinni says.
* Not his real name
Why not make it quicker and easier for legal immigrants to get status, thereby encouraging immigrants to enter France legally?
So many converts to Islam get involved in violence and terrorism, while converts to Christianity and other religions hardly ever do. Yet the official dogma is that all religions are equally likely to incite believers to violence, and that remains an iron dogma, beyond all questioning.
INFO ACTU17. Paris: Investigation into an assassination plan,
two suspects arrested
translated from “INFO ACTU17. Paris : Enquête sur un projet d’assassinat, deux suspects interpellés,” Actu17, December 31, 2023 (thanks to Medforth):
A 44-year-old man, suspected of preparing an assassination at the request of his girlfriend, targeting the latter’s ex-husband, was arrested this Friday afternoon in Bondy (Seine-Saint-Denis) before being placed in police custody in the premises of the criminal brigade of the Paris judicial police, according to information from Actu17. Investigators suspect the two suspects, known for their radicalization, of having planned to implement their project in the coming days.
In this case, a preliminary investigation was opened on December 7 by the Specialized Interregional Jurisdiction (JIRS) of Paris, after obtaining information suggesting this criminal project. Investigators learned that Estelle*, a 41-year-old woman living in Hauts-de-Seine, converted to Islam and on S file, was in conflict with her 34-year-old ex-husband, particularly regarding their four children in her care.
In recent weeks, the mother has reportedly mentioned her resentment and her wish to eliminate her ex-partner, to Hamid*, her new boyfriend, a 44-year-old former Thai boxing champion. Long discussions between the couple led to an assassination plan, while a court decision concerning the custody of the children of Estelle and her ex-spouse must take place at the beginning of 2024. Hamid knows the former husband and had a “conflictual” relationship with him, “against a background of rivalry,” emphasizes a source close to the matter. Estelle, for her part, is suspected of having “motivated” her boyfriend to commit this assassination, which they had carefully prepared.
Investigators carried out physical and technical surveillance in order to obtain concrete information on this bloody project. They found that Hamid, who lives in the United Kingdom, was in Paris this week, and that he had also come to visit his girlfriend around ten days ago. Subsequently, the police were convinced that the couple had planned an act during the end-of-year holiday period. This is how they spotted Hamid in Bondy, not far from the ex-husband’s home. The former top athlete was immediately arrested. “He had no weapon on him,” specifies the same source. “But he was not there by chance and his attitude, discreet and cautious, left the police in no doubt.”
Still according to information from Actu17, this preliminary investigation was opened on charges of “participation in a criminal association with a view to the commission of an organized crime.” Within this legal framework, Hamid’s police custody can last up to 96 hours. Estelle would also have been placed in police custody in the premises of the judicial police. The continuation of the investigations should make it possible to determine whether the two suspects had indeed planned to commit this assassination at the end of the year, but also to shed light on their mode of operation and whether any accomplices could have been associated with this murderous plan.
When contacted, the Paris public prosecutor’s office did not respond.
*first names have been changed
Nanterre: a teacher threatened with death
after a lesson on Islamist attacks
translated from “Nanterre : un professeur menacé de mort après un cours sur les attentats islamistes,” Valeurs Actuelles, December 31, 2023 (thanks to Medforth):
A history and geography teacher from the Lycée Joliot-Curie was threatened in Nanterre, in Hauts-de-Seine, according to information from Le Figaro. A tag would have been discovered within the establishment itself: “You’re more like Samuel Paty fdp (son of a bitch, editor’s note)”, it was written in particular. According to our colleagues, this incident took place after a lesson given by this teacher, during which he mentioned Islamist attacks. The Versailles rectorate, which “condemns” the facts, announced that the official now benefited from functional protection.
“The situation is particularly monitored by the Rectorate and the management of the departmental services of national education (DSDEN) of Hauts-de-Seine in conjunction with the police forces,” specified the institution. However, despite the threats made against him, the professor does not want to give in. In fact, he wants to return to high school after the end of year vacation.
Teachers are the target of students these days. As a reminder, in Yvelines, two students were placed in police custody after the “attempted poisoning” of a teacher. The student presented himself with his family to the director of the establishment “to acknowledge his action, which he regrets”. A disciplinary council is planned for the resumption of classes in January.
There is only one disciplinary action for a murder threat that makes any sense at all, and that's expulsion from school and expulsion from France. Anything less is just madness.
A Paris professor poisoned by student
Silence in MSM
Sylvain Allemand // Credits: AFP 13:01 p.m., December 21, 2023
According to information sent to the Versailles Academy, a student handed a glass containing a detergent to an art teacher during an end-of-year snack last Tuesday. The teacher's prognosis was not life-threatening, but she is suffering from the consequences of this ingestion. The student acknowledged and regretted his actions on Thursday.
A student at a secondary school in Yvelines admitted to having handed a glass containing a detergent product to his art teacher during an end-of-year snack last Tuesday. The teenager acknowledged his actions, which he regrets. This information was learned by Europe 1 from the Versailles academy, confirming the elements put forward by BFMTV. The teacher was taken care of by the emergency services for examinations. Her prognosis was not life-threatening, but she is suffering from the consequences of this ingestion and has decided to file a complaint.
"On Thursday, a student and his family presented themselves to the head of the school to acknowledge her gesture, which he regrets. A disciplinary council will be held when classes resume in January. Interviews have been scheduled with some of the students in the class," the Versailles school district told Europe 1.
Note: There is no indication that I could find to confirm that the student was a migrant, but I'm willing to bet my eye teeth that he was.
Also: This story has not appeared in any mainstream news source in the world.
Yvelines, Paris
