Le Pen Declares ‘Victory’ as Macron Caves on Bill Cracking Down on Mass Immigration

France’s National Rally leader Marine Le Pen declared an “ideological victory” as French President Emmanuel Macron compromised with conservatives on a bill that would toughen mass immigration laws.

Macron had initially introduced a much more watered-down version of the bill last week, but was humiliated after it was rejected in parliament since the French president doesn’t have a majority.

But Macron’s centrist party and the conservatives have now agreed on a more hardline immigration bill intended to strengthen France’s ability to deport foreigners.

“Under pressure from National Rally voter, this bill will harden the conditions surrounding immigration,” Le Pen told reporters at the National Assembly.

Je remercie la gauche qui a permis que cette loi qui prévoyait une nouvelle filière d’immigration massive se termine en une loi qui durcit un peu les conditions d’immigration dans notre pays. Pour une fois que la gauche est utile à quelque chose. pic.twitter.com/0UhIVWFtus

— Marine Le Pen (@MLP_officiel) December 19, 2023

“We can salute ideological progress, a ideological victory of the National Rally, because it will now be etched in legislation that there is a national priority,” she said.

The bill will make it harder for migrants to obtain residency permits and citizenship, bolster deportation measures for migrants deemed undesirable, and limit access to welfare benefits.

However, it also aims to give “irregular” migrant workers access to temporary work visas.

From Reuters:

The French government had initially said this would be a carrot-and-stick legislation that would make it easier for migrants working in sectors that lack labour to get a residency permit, but would also make it easier to expel illegal migrants.

In order to gain support from the right, however, the government agreed to water down the residency permits measures, while delaying migrants’ access to welfare benefits – including benefits for children and housing allowances – by several years.

The French have long prided themselves on having one of the most generous welfare systems in the world, granting payments even to foreign residents, helping them pay rent or care for their children with means-tested monthly contributions of up to a few hundred euros.

The far right and, more recently, conservatives, have argued these should be reserved for French people only. The deal agreed on Tuesday would delay access to housing benefits for unemployed non-EU migrants by five years.

The compromise also introduces migration quotas, makes it harder for immigrants’ children to become French, and says that dual nationals sentenced for serious crimes against the police could lose French citizenship.

Le Pen also added on X that while bill doesn’t go nearly far enough, it’s a step in the right direction for Macron’s government.

“This little law, which deserves neither excess praise nor excess opprobrium, can as it stands be voted on by the National Rally,” she wrote, adding, “we will have the opportunity to do much more and much more effectively when we come to power.”

La seule chose qui m’intéresse, c’est l’intérêt de la France et des Français. Cette petite loi, qui ne mérite ni un excès d’éloges ni un excès d’opprobre, peut en l’état être votée par le Rassemblement National. pic.twitter.com/yEusfaSLio

— Marine Le Pen (@MLP_officiel) December 19, 2023

Unsurprisingly, the left-wing parties in France vehemently opposed the bill, claiming it violates the rights of the migrants.

Macron has not commented on the deal as of this writing.

Political pressure to address the migrant crisis in France has reached a fever pitch amid skyrocketing violent migrant crime across the country and overwhelmed social services.

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