French Parliament Rejects Interior Minister's Bill on Tightening Migration Rules

PARIS (Sputnik) - The French lower house voted on Monday to scrap the controversial bill proposed by Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, which was aimed at tightening the rules on migration and deportation of migrants with a criminal record.

Members of the National Assembly supported the petition initiated by the Green party to reject the bill in a 270-265 vote. The petition was supported by the Republicans and the Left parties as well as Marine Le Pen's right-wing National Rally.

French media rushed to describe the vote as a big failure for the entire government and for Darmanin personally. The bill was designed to appeal to both poles of the political spectrum but ended up drawing criticism from the right and the left alike.

Jean-Luc Melenchon, the founder of left-wing La France Insoumise (France Unbowed) party, described it as "the end of the journey" for Darmanin in an X post.

Le Pen, whose party voted unanimously to reject the bill, said that the move showed the lawmakers' "very strong disapproval" of the interior minister. She believes that by voting against the bill the National Rally "saved the French people" from an influx of migrants as one of the draft law's articles entailed legalization of migrants employed in sectors with a shortage of workers, she added.

The first secretary of the French Socialist Party, Olivier Faure said "foreigners should not all be viewed as criminals" and that French President Emmanuel Macron "was elected as a protection from the National Rally." The Socialist Party, for its part, criticized the bill's overly harsh measures on the deportation of foreigners who have committed crimes.

At the same time, the president of The Republicans party, Eric Ciotti, found the bill not tough enough and called for a comprehensive migration reform in France.

The bill can now be sent back to the Senate for a second reading. The government can also convene a mixed commission made up of seven lawmakers from each chamber, who will have to agree on the final text.

The third option, which entails the government withdrawing the bill in the absence of an absolute majority in parliament, is extremely unlikely, French media said.

People close to Darmanin told reporters that the interior minister had been summoned by Macron to the Elysee Palace to "discuss the future" of the bill. Darmanin later confirmed he had met with Macron and said he submitted a resignation letter, which the French president did not accept.

"A defeat is a defeat," he told French broadcaster TF1. Nevertheless, he said he was not going to withdraw the controversial bill.

"I must give policemen, gendarmes, prefects and judges the means to fight illegal migration. This text must continue its legislative path and either be sent back to the Senate, or a mixed commission of seven senators and seven deputies will be created [to review it]," the interior minister told French media.

The future of the bill will be determined later Monday during a cabinet meeting with the participation of French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, he added.

The interior minister also accused lawmakers of forming a "union of opposites," rejecting the bill "for political reasons" and not acting "in the public interest."

The new bill on asylum and migration, which has been nicknamed the Darmanin bill in France, includes many measures to tighten control over the deportation of migrants. It also involves the deportation from France of foreigners who have committed crimes in the country.

Darmanin has described it as the "toughest" bill ever presented by the French government on immigration. He also said migrants who are due to be removed from France would be added to the wanted list to ensure they actually leave the country.

On the other hand, the bill makes it possible to legalize the stay in the country of migrants who can find work in sectors where there are shortages of French workers. Darmanin also plans to tighten the rules for staying in France on a family visa and introduce a mandatory French proficiency exam for family members of people coming to the country for family reunification.

The bill has been extensively criticized by French non-governmental organizations and a number of foreign workers' associations and trade unions. They published a petition against it, saying that it is "a fundamental violation of migrants' rights" and is aimed at "enshrining arbitrariness and repressive practices in legislation."