French President Continues to Push Immigration Bill Despite Rejection by Majority of National Assembly

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• President Emmanuel Macron is set to make changes on migration as he has asked his cabinet to come up with more proposals in order to push the immigration bill, largely rejected by the National Assembly.
• The immigration bill, which included removing access from state healthcare for migrants, was voted 265 against and 270 in favour by members of the Assembly.
• This bill was not backed by different members of the Assembly, including those in far-right and left parties, despite their stands regarding migration.

The National Assembly of France has rejected President Macron’s and his government’s most important immigration bill without even bringing it up for debate.

However, President Emmanuel Macron is set to keep going as he asked for the legislative process to continue and turned down the resignation of Interior Minister Gerard Darmanin. The latter offered to free his position over the “failure” to get the legislation approved.

According to Info Migrants, the majority of lawmakers in the National Assembly approved a motion to reject the proposed immigration bill, which left little to no space for debate over the legislation that proposed taking away the access of migrants to state healthcare services, among other things.

The Senate, mostly controlled by right-winged members, was close to implementing the bill, which included setting an annual quote on the number of arrivals by parliament. In addition, it would make it easier to deport foreigners with criminal records.

The positive aspects of the proposed immigration bill included accelerating asylum procedures for some categories of migrants and granting legal status to undocumented workers in sectors that have labour shortages.

One of the provisions would remove a ban on expelling foreigners who came into the country before the age of 13, which was the case for the Russian-born young man who committed a terrorist act in October.

By voting on the motion that rejects the proposed immigration bill, the National Assembly has halted debate on the 2,6000 amendments that had been proposed and forced the government to reconsider.

The Green Party proposed the motion to reject the bill and voted 270 in favour and 265 against, including members of the far-right National Rally and party members of the conservative party, Les Republicains, voting against the change.

President Macron to Give Darmanin One More Chance

Reportedly, President Macron refused his Interior Minister’s resignation and asked him to offer proposals that push the legislation further.

The bill can now be sent back to the Senate, or the other scenario, which is unlikely to happen, is for the government to decide to withdraw the text.

It can also use special executive powers to force its adoption without a vote, which would be an about-turn from Macron’s previous offer to put the issue of immigration to a referendum.

French PM Elisabeth Borne held an emergency meeting last night (December 11) with several ministers and the leaders of the groups in the National Assembly who support the government, which does not have the votes of the majority of members, making it impossible to pass legislation on its own.