French immigration law: The rejected measures include changing rules about citizenship based on birth.
In the legal world, France’s Constitutional Council has declared that parts of a controversial new immigration law go against the constitution and must be removed. This announcement, made on Thursday, means that nearly three dozen measures in the law, including many introduced by opposition rightwing lawmakers, have been rejected.
The rejected measures include making it harder for families of migrants to reunite, changing rules about citizenship based on birth, and limiting access to state welfare. Most of these changes were scrapped for procedural reasons. This decision is a bit of relief for President Emmanuel Macron, who had made this law a significant part of his second term. Despite supporting its passage through parliament, Macron, lacking a majority, was embarrassed by the backing it received from Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally party, which made the law even stricter.
President Macron had sent the law to the Council for review, along with three other groups. Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin praised the decision, saying it confirmed the government’s initial ideas. Darmanin added, “Never has a law included more measures to remove wrongdoers or set stricter requirements for the integration of foreigners.”
However, far-right leader Jordan Bardella criticized the Council’s cancellation of some of the law’s toughest anti-immigration measures. Bardella said, “The Constitutional Council has rejected measures that were most approved by the French people. The immigration law is now ineffective. The only solution is a referendum on immigration,” as written on X.
