The text was transmitted to the Council of State.
The government is making progress on its immigration bill, carried by the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, in tandem with his Labor colleague, Olivier Dussopt, which must be presented to the Council of Ministers in January, before being examined at the Senate and then to the National Assembly in early 2023.
This reform has already been the subject of all-out consultations at the end of the year.
The 25-page and 27-article document, consulted by our colleagues from Le Figaro and AFP, aims to "control immigration" and "improve integration", in accordance with Emmanuel Macron's desire to find a balance between "firmness and humanity".
VIDEO.
"Be mean to the bad and nice to the good", Gérald Darmanin presents the future asylum and immigration law
As announced since November, the government intends to regularize the situation of certain foreign workers.
Article 3 of the text thus creates, on an experimental basis for four years
,
"
a temporary residence permit mentioning
work in shortage occupations
”.
This card will be available “as of right” to any “foreigner who has carried out a salaried professional activity appearing in the list of professions
(in tension)
(…) for at least eight months out of the last twenty-four months, and who justifies 'a period of uninterrupted residence of at least three years'.
It will be valid for “one year”.
The government also wants to create a new residence permit for health professionals to attract foreign doctors and "meet the need for recruitment" in this sector in difficulty.
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Responding to Gérald Darmanin's wishes, article 1 of the bill makes the issue of a multi-year residence permit conditional on mastering a minimum level of French.
Until now, an exam was not required and only taking French courses was enough.
Still to make the integration of foreigners more effective, Article 4 provides for it "a system of access to the labor market without delay for asylum seekers whose it is highly probable, in view of their nationality, that 'they obtain international protection in France'.
Regarding the “control” aspect of immigration, the text, via its article 9, aims to “facilitate the expulsion of foreigners who do not respect the values of the Republic and who commit offenses on national territory”.
Its article 10 also reduces "the scope of protections against decisions imposing an obligation to leave French territory (OQTF) when the foreigner has committed acts constituting a serious threat to public order, public security or the safety of the State ".
Border controls will be well reinforced
It is "the double penalty" as the Minister of the Interior has always assumed.
In terms of tightening and simplifying the rules, its article 13 wants to "impose on the foreigner who applies for a residence permit to undertake to respect the principles of the Republic and to make possible the refusal, the withdrawal, or the non-renewal of certain residence permits for new reasons linked to his behaviour”.
The text still includes a battery of measures to allow faster judgments on this aspect and on the reception of migrants, after the crisis of the Ocean Viking, this humanitarian ship which transported 234 individuals.
It will now be increased
"
to 48 hours the time limit for the judgment of the judge of freedoms and detention (JLD) in the waiting area, in the event of the simultaneous placement of a large number of foreigners".
Border controls will be reinforced, via article 11 of the text, authorizing “the use of coercion for the taking of fingerprints and the taking of photographs” of illegal migrants.
Up to 20 years in prison for smugglers
The fight against smugglers is not forgotten.
The executive, with its article 14, wishes to “criminalize the facilitation in an organized gang, of the entry and stay of foreigners in an irregular situation”, which until now constituted only an offense.
The penalties are increased: they could go up to twenty years in prison and a fine of 1.5 million euros.
Finally, the government bill creates “France Asile” territorial hubs, the purpose of which is to facilitate the processing of asylum applications through greater proximity.
“Territorial chambers” of the National Court for the Right of Asylum must also be set up, and “single judge” hearings developed.
It now remains to obtain the approval of Parliament, where the bill has already been the subject of a heated debate and without a vote, at the beginning of December.
“I expect a rich and very interesting debate, especially in the Senate”, confides Gérald Darmanin to Parisian.
“We are ready to discuss, this text will be very open to amendments.
We have never been so far and so effectively on the subject, I do not see how the LRs could not support us, ”explains the minister.
According to our information, he could meet the LR group at the Assembly at the beginning of January, on the subject of immigration.