The French government published the official text of the new immigration law in the Official Journal on Saturday, after the Constitutional Court rejected parts of it, particularly those proposed by the right.
President Emmanuel Macron has called on Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin to “do everything in his power” to “implement the immigration law as soon as possible,” a member of the president’s team told the French news agency AFP.
The Constitutional Court on Thursday rejected parts of the immigration law, particularly measures adopted under pressure from the right in December.
A month after its adoption by parliament on December 19, the nine members of the court, which is responsible for determining the constitutionality of laws, rejected most of the measures that had sparked criticism and large protests, including reducing the access of non-European immigrants to benefits, setting annual immigration quotas, and tightening the conditions for family reunification.
“The Constitutional Court has ratified the government’s text in its entirety,” Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said on the X platform, adding that the executive branch had taken note of the “rejection of many of the items added by parliament for not respecting the proper parliamentary procedures.”
The executive branch had expected this rejection, as several provisions in the text, as admitted by Darmanin himself, were “clearly contrary to the constitution.”
Jordan Bardella, the head of the far-right National Rally, denounced a “coup by the judges with the support of the president,” saying that “the immigration law was born dead.” He called for a referendum on immigration.
