SHOCKER: French Government Promises to Reduce Immigration
Jose Nino
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In an interview with French political magazine Le Point, President Emmanuel Macron declared that the French state must reduce immigration, starting with legal entrants into the country.
Ironically, Macron’s declaration came after his comments last year where he said that migration “is part of France’s DNA.” 2022 was a year that the country experienced a record increase in immigrants.
In the Le Point interview, the French president signaled that his government will introduce a new immigration bill to the French Parliament in the autumn season. The adoption of the bill has been delayed several times over the last year.
“Are we flooded with immigration? No. You cannot say that. But the current situation is not sustainable, and we need to reduce immigration significantly, starting with illegal immigration. We have a duty to deliver,” the French president declared during the interview.
“To do this, we need to better protect our external European borders, because let’s not forget that France is not a country of entry for foreigners arriving in Europe, but rather a country of secondary immigration for foreigners who have entered the European Union from another country,” he continued.
Remix News previously reported in 2023 that Macron presided over a record increase in immigration during his time in office.
“A record year for the flood of immigrants into France: 320,330 residence permits were issued in 2022, the equivalent of the population of the city of Nantes. And that’s without taking illegal immigration into account. It is urgent to regain control of our borders!” Marine Le Pen tweeted earlier this year.
“We also need to be more effective in applying the right of asylum, which is abused by people smuggling networks,” he stated.
“This is at the heart of the draft law prepared by the government,” Macron added. “To sum up, yes, we must reduce immigration, but we must also continue to take action through education, integration, authority and the republic. And through the economy. When we had 10 percent unemployment for years, we could not integrate,” the French president highlighted.
Macron has also previously vowed to reduce deportations. As a matter of fact, he declared that his goal was a 100% deportation rate for all foreign nationals that were instructed to leave the country. However, as numbers in 2021 demonstrated, Macron failed to achieve his target, with only 15% of foreign nationals being subject to deportation.
Macron’s pro-immigration restriction tune is likely the product of the rise of Marine Le Pen and the broader right-wing populist movement that wants to settle the immigration question. So he will make noises about the question but likely do very little to address the question.
If we’re being honest the only actors in France who will restrict immigration will be the populist Right.
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