It's an event that almost went unnoticed, thanks to the political commotion triggered by the snap parliamentary election. On July 4, three days before the crucial vote for France's future, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo entrusted the original copy of her French nationality certificate to the Musée National de l'Histoire de l'Immigration, located in the Palais de la Porte-Dorée, Paris. "Like many children of immigrants, I've always feared losing and parting with this administrative act that proves my nationality," she promptly posted on Instagram, claiming her Spanish origins. The decision had been made long ago. However, the move was hastened by current events: Jordan Bardella, president of the Rassemblement National (RN), had announced 10 days earlier that he would prevent French citizens with another nationality from holding certain "strategic" positions if he became prime minister.

On July 7, Marine Le Pen's party, which had promised an "emergency law" on immigration, ultimately landed in third place, far from the absolute majority it dreamed of to seize power. This was a great relief to Constance Rivière, general director of the Palais de la Porte-Dorée, the public institution that oversees both the Musée National de l'Histoire de l'Immigration and the Aquarium Tropical. "We were afraid, of course, first of all for France and, as an immigration museum, of being weakened if the RN came to power," said the ENA graduate.

By some miracle, the museum had always escaped the far right's radar. Pap Ndiaye, its former director, only faced criticism from right-wing factions after he became education minister. "The museum fell through the cracks because it's too 'small.' They barely know it exists," he told Le Monde at the time.

In June 2023, the CNews TV network, never one to miss a chance to attack "woke propaganda," accused the museum of "falsifying history" after a museum poster campaign depicting King Louis XIV, son of Anne of Austria, with the caption: "It's amazing how many foreigners have shaped French history." However, the controversy quickly died down, likely because "the museum's message is historically irrefutable," said Rivière. "We rely on knowledge, facts and official figures."

These facts were driven home on June 20, during an evening event organized by the institution entitled "Immigration: What are we afraid of?" For three hours, in front of 400 spectators, a dozen speakers, including filmmaker Alice Diop and playwright Alexis Michalik, took to the stage in succession to debunk the untruths spread by the RN. Historian Patrick Boucheron, one of the architects of the museum's new permanent tour, was naturally on hand. "The French are less hostile to immigration than people think," he told Le Monde. "However, we've been asking them for 30 years whether there are too many immigrants, and by dint of asking them the question, we've ended up suggesting an answer."

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