France’s new interior minister, Bruno Retailleau – from the right-wing Les Républicains group and known for his hardline views on security and immigration – has hit the ground running, informing the French press of his intention to reduce immigration in France.
While Retailleau told French daily Le Figaro, where he said: “On the security front as on the migration front, the alert level has been reached.
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“So I will have only one key phrase: restore order. Order in the streets, order at the borders, order in our minds too, because we must return to simple facts: a police officer is not a social worker, a delinquent is not a victim, a country is not a train station.”
Throughout his various interviews, Retailleau referred only to ‘immigration’, making no distinctions between legal and illegal migration – although several of his proposals appear to be targeted at people who either arrive in an irregular manner or become undocumented once they arrive in France (for example by over-staying a visa).
In a separate interview with French television network TF1 Retailleau said that he hoped to “use all of the means available to reduce immigration in France”.
“I have an objective – because like millions of French people – I think that mass immigration is not an opportunity for France, and it’s not even an opportunity for the migrants who are sometimes sent to die on the high seas.”
He said that his plans fall into three main categories: utilising existing regulatory powers, “not holding back from passing new legislation”, and working with other European countries interested in changing the framework to decrease immigration.
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Regulatory powers
Because of the complicated political situation in France the new government is in a weak position and may struggle to pass new legislation.
Retailleau therefore spoke first about using regulatory powers – powers that a minister already has which do not require the passing of any new laws.
He said: “In a few days time, I will call a meeting of the 10 préfets (heads of French départements) from the 10 départements with the most serious migration problem. I’ll ask them to deport more people and regularise fewer.
“This will also give them an opportunity to tell me where the holes are (…) with the power of regulation, we can go quite far”. He did not specify which départements this list would include.
He also discussed reforming the State Medical Aid (AME) – which gives undocumented migrants access to basic healthcare.
“We have a problem, which is that we are one of the European countries that has given the most advantages out. I do not want France to stand out for this – for France to be the most attractive country in Europe for certain benefits or access to care,” he said.
During the debate around France’s new immigration law, which was eventually passed in January 2024, a proposal was made to scrap AME.
This was met with protests and in the end the joint committee for the senate and Assemblée Nationale scrapping the idea and proposed instead to look again at the system for undocumented migrants.
New legislation
Retailleau also said that the new government “should not prohibit itself from writing new texts and from putting forward new laws.”
In terms of what types of legislation they would look to pass – Retailleau harked back to the dozens of amendments that were added into that 2024 immigration bill by right-wingers, all of which were ultimately scrapped by the Constitutional Council.
READ MORE: France’s Constitutional Council rejects large parts of immigration law
“These were censored not for questions of substance, but due to formalities,” he said – many of the articles were deemed ‘legislative riders’, meaning they were not directly connected to the initial purpose of the law. As such, it would be possible for these articles to be reintroduced in separate legislation.
Retailleau said that one area he would like to focus on is reinstating the “criminal offence of illegal residence”, which was removed under former French President François Hollande.
“I am sorry, but when you enter France illegally, it is against the law,” Retailleau insisted.
Border controls and EU rules
Retailleau discussed Germany’s recent introduction of controls at its borders and noted that France has taken these steps before and could do so again in the future, although he declined to speculate on the possibility of introducing new border checks in a permanent fashion.
Instead, he said: “More importantly, I think we can form a sort of alliance with countries that want greater firmness on immigration. We can work with them to review the EU laws that are no longer at all suitable today.
“For example, I am thinking of the ‘returns’ directive, which was designed 20 years ago [passed in 2008]. Everything has changed, so we must also change the European rules.”
This is the EU framework that governs the standards for third-country nationals who illegally enter the EU, mandating a certain amount of time for the person to leave the territory voluntarily before forced removal is pursued.
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