In France, 45% of the population believes that "there are too many immigrants," according to a December 2022 Kantar (ex-Sofres) survey. The case seems to have been made: "opinion" rejects immigrants. This figure, which has been over-publicized in the media, helps to explain the prevailing xenophobia of some politicians, and in particular the fact that of the stance of Les Républicains (LR, right-wing) has fallen into alignment with that of the Rassemblement National (RN, far-right). This is also part of the reason why the government is proposing yet another immigration law.

The unanimity on this subject deserves to be qualified. This overall percentage brings together the "strongly agree" and "somewhat agree" categories. In the Kantar survey, the former represents 20% of the population, the latter 25 %. Among the latter, a good proportion follows the direction of the media debate, thinking: "After all, since we're being told, it's probably true...," or believe that segregation is too extensive in certain neighborhoods. Summing up "opinion" in a single question makes little sense. At the same time, over 60% of French people believe that "immigration is a source of cultural enrichment," according to surveys by the National Consultative Commission on Human Rights (CNCDH).

Furthermore, poll commentators never point out that the percentage of those who think there are "too many" immigrants has been falling sharply for several years. It was 63% in 2005 and even 74% in 1995. The share of those who "completely agree" was 45% in 1994: more than double today's level. The share of those who think "immigration is a source of cultural enrichment" was only 45 % in the early 1990s.

Polls are only worth what they are: an online click amid dozens of unrelated questions. People answer questions they weren't necessarily asking themselves, at least in those terms. Polls "take the temperature" of the times, they only represent the shadow of values. Clicking on "yes" to "too many immigrants" is the consequence of the over-amplification of xenophobic statements (which could be described as "xenophobism").

It also reflects the frustration of the working and middle classes. Living standards among the working classes have stagnated since the early 2000s. Answering a pollster that there are "rather" too many immigrants is a way of expressing the feeling of not being listened to in the face of the violence of increasing job insecurity, loss of purchasing power and educational inequality, to name but a few examples. For the middle classes, it's also a feeling that they're being taken for a ride by policies that focus on the poorest and feed the savings of the rich through tax cuts.

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