France offers special visas for workers in “under pressure” sectors

The French government has proposed the creation of a residence permit for undocumented foreigners in order to occupy jobs who do not find candidates in the “in tension” sectors. The proposal also envisages ending, in certain cases, the six-month period during which asylum seekers cannot work in the country.

Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin and Labor Minister Olivier Dussopt put forward this proposal in a joint interview published on Wednesday in the daily Le Monde. The special residence permit will regularize undocumented immigrants already present in France and working in sectors that do not have the necessary workforce, such as construction, hospitality, personal care and care. health.

The proposal will be considered from January as part of a series of amendments to the immigration law, which also plan to speed up the procedure for deporting foreign criminals. “To sum it up, I would say be mean to the mean and nice to the good”explained the Minister of the Interior.

Darmanin recalled that foreigners represent 7% of the French population but 19% of crimewhile in Paris and in the ten largest cities of France, “they represent half of the crime”.

“I do not reduce immigration to crime, but it would be absurd not to see that a small part of foreigners is responsible for a large part of crime,” he insisted.

“On the other side, a majority of foreigners live off the fruits of their labor and try to integrate,” he added. Dussopt also pointed out that the proposal would reduce illegal work and the abuse of undocumented immigrants by some employers.

“Work must once again become a factor of integration and emancipation,” he stressed. The Minister of the Interior pointed out that the professional organizations insist on the need to facilitate the recruitment of foreigners, but warned that sanctions against employers responsible for illegal work will also be toughened.

The initiative was immediately rejected by the National Rally (RN), a far-right party. “How to give a new name to a campaign to regularize illegal workers,” said RN leader Marine Le Pen on social media.

RN MP Philippe Ballard warned that the regularization of irregular immigrants “will constitute a formidable effect of attraction” for the arrival of more undocumented people, he said in televised remarks. “It is not a massive regularization, it will be case by case”, declared the Minister of Labor before the National Assembly meeting in plenary session.

The government spokesperson, Olivier Véran, said at a press conference that these were “food for thought” for a process of parliamentary dialogue prior to the drafting of the bill, but he specified that a “pragmatic” approach to immigration was necessary.