Top French court rejects large parts of controversial immigration bill
Al Jazeera
The court rejected measures that toughen access to social benefits, family reunification, and immigration quotas.
More than a third of articles in a controversial immigration bill must be scrapped, France’s Constitutional Council has said.
The council, a body that validates the constitutionality of laws, rejected measures in the bill on Thursday that call for the toughening of access to social benefits, family reunification, and the introduction of immigration quotas set by parliament.
It upheld much of the bill initially presented by President Emmanuel Macron’s government but criticised the contentious additions made under pressure from the political right and far right.
The bill includes migration quotas, obstacles to family reunification and delays to migrants’ access to welfare benefits, as well as articles cancelling automatic birthright citizenship and making it easier to deport non-French nationals.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin welcomed the ruling, saying it had validated the government’s initial proposals.
