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President Macron enacts new French Immigration Law

A final version France's new Immigration Law, seen by many as a sign of Macron's lurch to the right, was published in the Journal Officiel on Saturday.

Published: 27 January 2024 11:46 CET

French President Emmanuel Macron has come under fire for the country's new immigration law. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP)

The administration of French President Emmanuel Macron published the formal text of a new immigration law in its Official Journal on Saturday, with the first instructions on applying the legislation already presented to officials.

The law’s promulgation comes after France’s Constitutional Council censured 35 of its 86 articles, including contentious additions insisted on by the right, such as measures restricting access to social benefits and the introduction of immigration quotas.

While the bill was seen as one of the signature reforms of Macron’s second term, some in his camp had baulked at the stricter version, with about a quarter of his allies in parliament voting against it or abstaining.

The final text upheld by the council retains key elements initially desired by the government, with a large part of it dedicated to simplifying procedures for expelling delinquent foreigners — one of the objectives of Interior Minister Gerard Darmanin.

An article on the regularisation of undocumented workers in industries facing shortages was also kept in the text.

After the Constitutional Council’s decision, Macron had called on Darmanin to do “everything in his power” to “implement the immigration law as quickly as possible”, a member of the president’s team told AFP.

Darmanin, who had previously said some measures were “clearly contrary to the constitution”, described the council’s ruling as a win for the government.

Anger on the right

The decision, however, sparked condemnation from the right, with Jordan Bardella, president of the far-right National Rally party, criticising what he called a “coup by the judges, with the backing of the president” in a post on social media platform X.

He called for a referendum on immigration as the “only solution”.

The president of the conservative Republicans, Eric Ciotti, accused the council of colluding with Macron against the “will of the French people, who want less immigration”.

Only three of the articles censured by the council were rejected based on their content, with the rest tossed out because they were deemed to be outside the scope of the law.

As such, nothing is stopping parliament from voting on them again later as part of different legislation.

The Republican head of the Senate, Gerard Larcher, urged the administration to “resubmit a text that conforms to the agreement” reached with the right.

The head of the far-left LFI party, Manuel Bompard, also called for the law to be withdrawn, saying “the text validated by the Constitutional Council corresponds to the text rejected by the Assembly” and therefore has “no legitimacy”.

But Interior Minister Darmanin poured cold water on the possibility of further legislation, saying the executive “will not present a bill” on the subject.

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Azerbaijan vehemently rejects the accusation it bears responsibility for the riots that have led to the deaths of five people and rattled the Paris government.

But it is just the latest in a litany of tensions between Paris and Baku and not the first time France has accused Azerbaijan of being behind an alleged disinformation campaign.

The riots in New Caledonia, a French territory lying between Australia and Fiji, were sparked by moves to agree a new voting law that supporters of independence from France say discriminates against the indigenous Kanak population.

Paris points to the sudden emergence of Azerbaijani flags alongside Kanak symbols in the protests, while a group linked to the Baku authorities is openly backing separatists while condemning Paris.

“This isn’t a fantasy. It’s a reality,” interior minister Gérald Darmanin told television channel France 2 when asked if Azerbaijan, China and Russia were interfering in New Caledonia.

“I regret that some of the Caledonian pro-independence leaders have made a deal with Azerbaijan. It’s indisputable,” he alleged.

But he added: “Even if there are attempts at interference… France is sovereign on its own territory, and so much the better”.

“We completely reject the baseless accusations,” Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry spokesman Ayhan Hajizadeh said.

“We refute any connection between the leaders of the struggle for freedom in Caledonia and Azerbaijan.”

In images widely shared on social media, a reportage broadcast Wednesday on the French channel TF1 showed some pro-independence supporters wearing T-shirts adorned with the Azerbaijani flag.

Tensions between Paris and Baku have grown in the wake of the 2020 war and 2023 lightning offensive that Azerbaijan waged to regain control of its breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region from ethnic Armenian separatists.

France is a traditional ally of Christian Armenia, Azerbaijan’s neighbour and historic rival, and is also home to a large Armenian diaspora.

Darmanin said Azerbaijan – led since 2003 by President Ilham Aliyev, who succeeded his father Heydar – was a “dictatorship”.

On Wednesday, the Paris government also banned social network TikTok from operating in New Caledonia.

Tiktok, whose parent company is Chinese, has been widely used by protesters. Critics fear it is being employed to spread disinformation coming from foreign countries.

Azerbaijan invited separatists from the French territories of Martinique, French Guiana, New Caledonia and French Polynesia to Baku for a conference in July 2023.

The meeting saw the creation of the “Baku Initiative Group”, whose stated aim is to support “French liberation and anti-colonialist movements”.

The group published a statement this week condemning the French parliament’s proposed change to New Caledonia’s constitution, which would allow outsiders who moved to the territory at least 10 years ago the right to vote in its elections.

Pro-independence forces say that would dilute the vote of Kanaks, who make up about 40 percent of the population.

“We stand in solidarity with our Kanak friends and support their fair struggle,” the Baku Initiative Group said.

Raphael Glucksmann, the lawmaker heading the list for the French Socialists in June’s European Parliament elections, told Public Senat television that Azerbaijan had made “attempts to interfere… for months”.

He said the underlying problem behind the unrest was a domestic dispute over election reform, not agitation fomented by “foreign actors”.

But he accused Azerbaijan of “seizing on internal problems.”

A French government source, who asked not to be named, said pro-Azerbaijani social media accounts had on Wednesday posted an edited montage purporting to show two white police officers with rifles aimed at dead Kanaks.

“It’s a pretty massive campaign, with around 4,000 posts generated by (these) accounts,” the source told AFP.

“They are reusing techniques already used during a previous smear campaign called Olympia.”

In November, France had already accused actors linked to Azerbaijan of carrying out a disinformation campaign aimed at damaging its reputation over its ability to host the Olympic Games in Paris. Baku also rejected these accusations.