Macron faces party rebellion as French lawmakers advance tougher immigration bill
French President Emmanuel Macron was facing a rebellion within his own party from left-leaning deputies on Tuesday after a tougher immigration bill won the support of the far right under Marine Le Pen as it advanced through parliament. NGOs have slammed the measure as the “most regressive” immigration law in decades.
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin delivers a speech before a debate on immigration law at the French National Assembly in Paris, France, December 11, 2023. © Stephanie Lecocq, Reuters
A commission of upper-house senators and lower-house National Assembly MPs agreed on a new draft of the bill on Tuesday after it was voted down without a debate in the National Assembly last week in a major blow to Macron.
The legislation was largely adopted by the Senate in a vote later in the day and will now head to the National Assembly.
But while the government has the numbers on paper for the legislation to be passed, there are growing concerns within Macron’s camp that a rebellion could see the measure defeated.
The government regards the legislation – which generally tightens immigration rules – as crucial to seizing the initiative on the issue of immigration from the far right.
But various amendments have seen the measures tightened from when the bill was originally submitted, with the left accusing the government of caving in to pressure from the far right.
Dozens of NGOs have slammed what they described as potentially the “most regressive” immigration law in decades.
It is “the most regressive bill of the past 40 years for the rights and living conditions of foreigners, including those who have long been in France”, around 50 groups, including the French Human Rights League, said in a joint statement.
A key element is now that social security benefits for foreigners be conditional on five years of presence in France or 30 months for those who have jobs.
Migration quotas can also now be agreed and there are also measures for dual-national convicts being stripped of French nationality.
Le Pen endorsed the revamped bill but key left-leaning members of Macron’s Renaissance Party and allied factions indicated they could no longer support it, with several ministers reportedly threatening to resign.
Macron swept to power in 2017 heading a broad centrist movement that rallied together the left and the right, but that fragile unity now risks cracking over the immigration bill.
Prominent left-leaning Renaissance MP Sacha Houlié said he would vote against the legislation and called on others to follow, with some sources saying that around 30 pro-Macron MPs could do so.
In a sign of the seriousness of the situation, Macron called a meeting of his ruling party at the Élysée Palace ahead of the vote, party sources told AFP.
The political right celebrated the bill’s advance.
“We can rejoice in ideological progress, an ideological victory even for the National Rally (RN), since this is now enshrined into law as a national priority,” said Marine Le Pen, a three-time presidential candidate who now leads the RN’s lawmakers in parliament and is widely expected to stand again for president in 2027.
The RN had previously said it would vote against the bill or abstain.
As well as the RN and Macron’s centrist coalition of MPs led by his Renaissance party, the bill will also be supported by the right-wing Republicans.
‘Moment of dishonour’
Health Minister Aurélien Rousseau, Higher Education Minister Sylvie Retailleau and Housing Minister Patrice Vergriete were meeting Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne and warned they could resign, sources told AFP.
The centrist Liot faction, which is not part of Macron’s movement but often supports it, asked the government to withdraw the text “as we are facing a grave political crisis”, said its head Bertrand Pancher.
The left and hard-left have reacted with horror to the prospect of the legislation succeeding, with the head of Socialist lawmakers in the National Assembly, Boris Vallaud, calling it a “great moment of dishonour for the government”.
“With this text directly inspired by RN pamphlets against immigration, we are facing a shift in the history of the republic and its fundamental values,” French Communist Party leader Fabien Roussel said.
Macron’s hardline Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, an ambitious 41-year-old who has spearheaded the legislation, had warned Sunday that Le Pen risked winning the 2027 presidential election if the bill were not passed.
Passing the legislation is critical for Macron, who cannot stand again in 2027 after two consecutive terms and risks being seen as a lame duck with more than three years left of his term.
The government does not have a majority in parliament following legislative elections that followed his re-election in 2022.
