Paris, Dec 20 (EFE) – French Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne recognized on Wednesday that some of the measures included in the new immigration law, approved Tuesday night with the support of conservatives and the far right, could be unconstitutional and that the government would request their study.
In an interview with the public radio France Inter, Borne spoke along the same lines as the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, who on Tuesday in the Senate expressed doubts about the constitutionality of some of the provisions included in the text, and toughened in negotiations with the conservative bloc of the Republicans (Les Républicains, LR).
“The President of the Republic will refer it to the Constitutional Council,” said Borne, referring to the court responsible for ensuring that French laws comply with the Magna Carta.
Borne assured that the government does not rule out future amendments on some of the most controversial measures concerning restrictions on access to social aid or the requirement of a deposit for foreign students.
Despite all this, Borne assured that her feeling is one of “duty fulfilled” and tried to minimize the political storm that has been unleashed by the approval of a text that Marine Le Pen’s far right has described as an “ideological victory.”
The Prime Minister also denied that the Minister of Health, Aurélien Rousseau, had submitted his resignation, although she acknowledged that there was unease in the most progressive sectors of Macronism.
Government minimizes role of far right
In this context, Borne made an effort to emphasize that she excluded the votes of Le Pen’s bloc, the National Rally (RN, for its acronym in French), in her accounts of the parliamentary process, despite the fact that if they had voted against the measure, it would not have prospered.
Borne assured, however, that the cordon sanitaire against the far right in France remains in place.
She also tried to calm the outrage over some of the most controversial measures, such as the bail for foreign students, a fee they would have to pay upon arrival and get back when they leave the country.
Borne assured that this point still needed to be discussed, but went on to say that the deposit could remain at 10 or 20 euros, clarifying that it would not necessarily be a deposit, but rather a bank certificate, something that is already required of foreign students.
She also mentioned that the state medical aid for undocumented immigrants will not disappear, although the government has committed to reform it with the LR conservatives.
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, will also try to calm the waters on Wednesday with an intervention on the television program “C à vous”, on the public channel France 5, late in the afternoon, around 7 pm local time.
In parallel, French associations and organizations dedicated to the fight against exclusion have announced that they will also go to the Constitutional Council to review the controversial law.
The Federation of Solidarity Actors (FAS), which brings together some 900 associations, announced in a statement on Tuesday evening that it was “already taking the necessary steps to have the Constitutional Council review the measures that are contrary to the fundamental principles of solidarity and fraternity that are inseparable from our Republic.”
The immigration law was approved on Tuesday night in the French National Assembly with 268 votes in favor (those of the Macronist bloc, the conservatives of the LR and the 88 of the extreme right of the RN) and 186 against (including 27 Macronists).
The voted text is the product of an agreement reached on Monday in a mixed commission of the two parliamentary chambers, in which there was a clear majority on the right.
It considerably toughened the government’s initial proposal, as the conservative bloc of the Republicans, which was essential to carry it, since Macronism lacks an absolute majority, had defended the need to make the French social system less attractive to immigrants, considering that too many arrive.
According to the UN, the European country has about 12% of foreign population, behind Spain (13%), the United States (15%), Austria (17%) and Switzerland (29%), among others. EFE
ngp/mcd/ics
