Immigration law: deputies for a set of “toughness” measures

In committee this Friday, MPs passed a series of “toughness” measures in the immigration bill. They are aimed at facilitating the removal of aliens convicted of certain crimes or offenses or who pose a “serious threat” to public order.

Following measures to regularize undocumented workers in high-stress occupations that were heavily criticized by the right, the Law Commission looked at the safety aspect of the government’s text, which is in the crosshairs of the left. Thus, the deputies gave the green light to an original article aimed at eliminating the “protection” from deportation of foreigners in a legal situation through ministerial decrees when they have committed certain crimes and serious offenses.

The “protection” in question applies to foreigners with strong ties to France, especially family ties. They can be removed upon conviction for crimes or misdemeanors punishable by ten years’ imprisonment or five years in the case of a “repeat”. Lawmakers removed the tightening measures from the Senate, which reduced those limits to five and three years. “We are in the process of repealing this Article 9, which is the main argument of Mr. Darmanin,” the Minister of the Interior took offense at the head of the deputies from the Republic of Lithuania, Olivier Marlet, condemning the “little additional unraveling” of the copy from the Senate.

“Forcing” to take fingerprints from foreigners

MPs also adopted an article reducing protection from decisions on the “obligation to leave French territory” (OQTF) when “a foreigner has committed acts that pose a serious threat to public order or the security of the ‘state’, with the exception of minors. People who arrived in France under the age of 13 or have lived in the territory for more than twenty years may now be affected. Gérald Darmanin took the example of the “Arras killer” who fatally wounded Professor Dominique Bernard: “he hit his mother, we could not give him an OQTF because he arrived before the age of 13.”

Despite opposition from the left, the commission also confirmed the possibility of “using coercion” to take fingerprints from illegally staying foreigners. The Senate’s proposed creation of a “national unaccompanied juvenile offender case” was removed from the text by concurrent amendments from the president’s camp and the left.

Deputies also adopted a ban on placing foreign minors in administrative detention centers (ADCs). The original article, which LR asked in vain to remove, provided for a ban on children under 16 years of age. But an amendment by the independent Liot group extended the ban to those under 18, as well as “administrative detention centers.” “This is an absolutely important decision,” rejoiced the general speaker (Renaissance, majority) of the text, Florent Boudier.