France wants to grant residence permits to irregular immigrants and asylum seekers who can work in sectors that are seriously lacking in labor, such as construction, agriculture or restaurants. The controversial measure was announced this Wednesday by the Ministers of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, and Labor, Olivier Dussopt, in an interview with the newspaper Le Monde.
The partial regularization of the illegal immigrants will be included in the immigration bill that the French Government is preparing and that must be presented to Parliament in the first months of 2023. Several representatives of the right and of the extreme right have already raised the cry in the sky because they consider that it will further boost the arrival of non-EU foreigners.
Darmanin, considered one of the most right-wing members of the Executive, summed up the philosophy of the new law as follows: "You have to be bad with the bad and kind with the kind." In reality, a hand is opened for a part of the irregular immigrants -those who already work clandestinely and those who can do so in the sectors that interest them-, but they want to be tougher with those who have received the order to leave the country. . It is an ambivalent and somewhat contradictory policy, to satisfy, on the one hand, companies that are desperate for a lack of labor and, on the other, to give the impression that uncontrolled immigration is combated more effectively, especially those difficult to assimilate
In France there is a paradoxical situation. Hundreds of thousands of jobs in sectors such as agriculture, construction or hospitality are unfilled. But, at the same time, hundreds of thousands of foreigners - undocumented or recent asylum seekers - cannot work legally. The reform aims to help solve the problem.
The regularization of irregulars presents political risks for the Government, which makes itself vulnerable to criticism from the right and the extreme right. The recent heinous murder, in Paris, of a 12-year-old girl at the hands of an Algerian citizen who had received an order to leave the country caused a stir. Hence, the Government, with the new law, wants to carry out a difficult balancing act: welcoming with some, very severe with others. It is intended, for example, that those whose visas have expired be included in the police file of wanted persons. At the same time, it is wanted that the orders to leave the country - some 120,000 each year - become effective. Today, barely 10% are fulfilled.
According to Minister Dussopt, the regularization will be able to protect immigrants who now work illegally and curb, in general, jobs in the submerged economy. The regularization of these people will no longer depend on the good will of their employer, but they themselves will be able to take the initiative and request a residence permit.
