French parliament starts debating a bill that would make it easier to deport some migrants

PARIS — Senators in France were set Monday to start debating a bill that is intended to toughen the country’s immigration law but advocacy organizations have criticized as a threat to the rights of asylum-seekers and other migrants.

French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said the legislation “is about being firm” on immigration. The bill especially is aimed at “being tougher on foreigners who commit crimes, expelling them all,” he said, speaking Sunday night on TV channel France 2.

The government said the measure would strengthen and accelerate the process for deporting foreigners who are regarded as “a serious threat to public order.”

At the same time, Darmanin, who is considered one of the most right-wing members of President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist government, said the bill acknowledges people who entered France without authorization and “want to regularize.”

The legislation includes a provision that would give legal status under certain conditions to undocumented individuals working in specific sectors with labor shortages.

“There’s a political compromise to be found. What counts is the general interest,” Darmanin said.

The Senate debate is the first step in what is likely to be a long and difficult legislative journey. The bill already was postponed several times this year due to a lack of support from a parliamentary majority.

The upper house of parliament is dominated by conservatives who are opposed to giving legal status to workers who entered France illegally, arguing the move would create a “pull effect” that encourages more migrants to come to France.

Speaking on France Inter radio, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne on Monday rejected the conservatives’…