France's Sénat on Tuesday, November 14, passed a bill aimed at controlling immigration, toughening the language and measures of the legislation in a manner likely to complicate the government's search for compromise in the Assemblée Nationale.
Originally proposed by President Emmanuel Macron's government with a mix of steps to expel more undocumented people and improve integration, the text – voted through by 210 to 115 – now leans firmly towards enforcement after its passage through the Sénat, which is controlled by the right. "The Sénat has restored the bill's consistency by toughening it up," said Bruno Retailleau, the head of the right-wing Les Républicains faction in the Sénat.
Most bitterly contested was the government's plan to offer a general right for undocumented migrants working in sectors with labor shortages to stay legally. Right-wing senators have insisted there should only be "exceptional" case-by-case decisions.
Their version of the bill also further restricts the ability of migrants for bring family members into France, birthright citizenship and welfare benefits. It would introduce an annual quota for the number of migrant arrivals to be set by parliament, and remove all but emergency medical coverage for undocumented people.
The amendments have found favor with Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, who moved from the right to Macron's camp early in his career. He argues that its provisions would have allowed the expulsion of a young Russian who knifed a teacher to death in the northern city of Arras last month. But its passage is far from assured in the Assemblée Nationale, where no side has a majority.
Sacha Houlié, a left-leaning MP in Macron's Renaissance party and head of the Laws Committee, has said that the body will restore "the entire original text" proposed by the government. It remains unclear how hard the left wing of Renaissance will push to reinstate its idea of a balanced law.
The bill is unlikely to pass in any form without support from the Les Républicains in the Assemblée Nationale, whose leader Olivier Marleix said Tuesday that he wanted to "keep toughening up the text." Support is unlikely to come from other groups, with left-wing parties such as the Parti Socialiste (PS) and La France Insoumise dead set against it. PS head Olivier Faure on Tuesday called the bill "disgraceful."
Ministers could yet pass the law using an unpopular constitutional mechanism to force it through on the back of a confidence vote. Opposition parties would be unlikely to join forces across the political spectrum to unseat the government.