Will the social benefits available to legally resident foreigners be reduced? The deadline imposed for them to benefit from it could be extended. A compromise which “costs the majority”, admitted Gérald Darmanin on Sunday, on the eve of the joint committee (CMP) of the immigration bill.
“Of course it costs the majority. This was not the general idea of the majority at the beginning and I think that if we want an agreement, we can agree, for example, to remove the disabled adult allowance (AAH) from the basket of benefits. social services likely to be affected by a longer period for a legally resident foreigner to be able to claim benefit, explained the Minister of the Interior on BFMTV.
“We are not in favor of this article”
The Senate text plans to impose on foreigners in a legal situation to have to prove five years of residence to be able to benefit from allowances such as personalized housing assistance (APL) or family allowances, compared to six months currently.
“It is not the government’s desire to keep this article. This is a desire in particular of the Senate and the Republicans,” underlined the minister. “Will we find an agreement on this point? We want it. We are not in favor of this article. Afterwards, you have to take a step,” he observed. He mentioned discussions on “the duration” required to benefit from these allowances.
Discrepancies that already exist in French law
Gérald Darmanin also considered that such a compromise did not involve the introduction into his reform of the national preference promoted by the far right for years, as the left opposition accuses.
“The differences in social benefits for foreigners compared to French people already exist in the law,” argued the Minister of the Interior. “You only receive the RSA in France five years after your arrival (…), the activity bonus is five years later, the Aspa (solidarity allowance for the elderly) five years later. And in Mayotte, it’s even fifteen years later. So the legislator, and in particular the socialist government, did it,” he explained.