Le Figaro Nantes
A week after the promulgation of the immigration law, the subject has not stopped being talked about.
This is how in Nantes, the left-wing majority has just adopted a wish
“for a migration and integration policy worthy of France and its tradition”
at the start of the municipal council this Friday morning.
The vote on such a text does not induce any executive decision and only reflects the expression of a wish.
However, this political act did not fail to provoke a reaction from the opposition from the right and the center.
“The Constitutional Council, while demonstrating that several provisions of the “immigration” law were contrary to the fundamental rules of our Republic, nevertheless left in place a certain number of
provisions which directly clash with our humanist and universalist values
,” deplores the mayor of Nantes Johanna Rolland, in the wish submitted to elected officials.
The deputy national secretary of the PS adds that
“a few months before the European elections, a reinforced common policy, united and humanist, must be defended on this scale, in the face of populist and nationalist excesses”
.
Also read: Nantes: “green” and “gender-sensitive” budgets renewed in 2024
Internal regulations
“We have internal regulations which say that the wishes which must be proposed in the municipal council are wishes of local public interest. I am not convinced that this is the case with the proposed text
,” reacted Julien Bainvel, elected opposition LR.
“What you are offering us is not a wish, it’s a leaflet.
[...] Obviously, that allows you to unite your majority and avoid talking about subjects on which you disagree locally
,” he tackled, echoing the majority which notably brings together ecologists and socialists.
Macronist Mounir Belhamiti, Nantes municipal councilor and deputy, support of the text adopted by the government, pointed out another inconsistency.
“When one of the opposition groups asks for a vote of support
for Nantes market gardeners
, or for Nantes traders, victims of damage, our assembly is strangely deprived of its ability to express itself
,” he recalled. , in reference to a metropolitan council in June where a wish from the opposition aimed at supporting Nantes market gardeners had been refused.
“Curious reversal of areas of competence, which sees your majority fleeing its own when it comes to local issues, and attempting to set itself up as a censor of the legislator”
.
Also read: Immigration law: was the Constitutional Council more zealous than European law?
Nearly an hour of debate
For almost an hour, in a sometimes tense atmosphere, substantive debates were also discussed.
“We have neighborhoods that are not doing well, buildings where the proportions of newly arrived people are so high that integration becomes impossible
,” said the self-proclaimed right-wing candidate for the 2026 municipal elections Foulques Chombart de Lauwe.
“The state coffers are empty, the department is not closing its budget this year, but it is he who is in charge of solidarity.
As for the city, it has tensions over social housing and an inability to welcome all the newly arrived people.
We have slums flourishing on the outskirts, but with that we should turn on the tap?
It's irresponsible.
You won't be able to continue integrating them.
With that, you pave the way for the RN
,” he protested.
For the first deputy Bassem Asseh, member of the PS and author of a recent note for the Jean Jaurès foundation on the subject of the left and immigration, the State should take more of its part.
“Whatever the opening slider is, there is one thing that comes from it, these are the necessary means for the integration of immigration”
.
Citing in particular learning French, work or even training, the city's new security man regretted that
"the State, instead of looking into this umpteenth law"
, is not looking further into
"the massive investment that is necessary for integration to go well.
And she can do well
. ”
On the side of environmentalists,
“they will continue to defend the unconditional welcome of immigrants
,” reiterated Marie Vitoux, co-president of elected environmentalists and citizens.
She also accused elected official Mounir Belhamiti of having voted for
“a xenophobic text, called for by Jean-Marie Le Pen since the 1980s. A shame for a parliamentarian from the left, and a historic political mistake”
.
The accused then clarified, amidst laughter and a certain hubbub, that he had never
“belonged to the family of ecologists”
nor been
“a member of the EELV party”
:
“the elected representatives of the Republic must above all defend the general interest.
Even before the ideology or dogma of their political party.
And I think that makes a pretty clear difference between us on this point
,” the elected official finished.