Former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe proposed this Sunday to set “quotas” for regularization for undocumented workers working in professions in shortage, while estimating that the bill on immigration debated from Monday at the The National Assembly does not constitute a migratory “call for fresh air”. “I will never support any text that would constitute a call for air. We have to face reality. This item [du projet de loi] has none of that, it aims to try to find a solution for a certain number of foreigners in an irregular situation, who actually carry out professions that we need and which do not pose a public order problem”, observes Edouard Philippe in an interview with Sunday Newspaper (JDD).
“To reassure those who fear a downturn, we could set up quotas. We can set a limit on the number of regularizations. There are already guarantees in the text, we can add more,” he continues. This clause on the regularization of undocumented workers in professions in shortage is one of the hardest points of the discussion on the immigration bill carried by the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin. The right and the far right are fiercely opposed to it while the left of the Macronist majority wants the text to include a regularization system.
No retreat on the AME
In this interview with JDD, Edouard Philippe affirms that his Horizons party, which occupies the right wing of the majority, unambiguously supports the bill. “I want to express my complete support for the text which was proposed by Gérald Darmanin,” he said. “It fits exactly into what I believe and what I have defended since my time at Matignon. We must regain control of our immigration and fight against fait accompli immigration,” he adds.
In this interview, Edouard Philippe also defends the maintenance of State Medical Aid (AME) intended for undocumented foreigners, “for reasons of decency and for reasons relating to the general interest”. The bill will be discussed in the National Assembly chamber from Monday. The debates are expected to last at least until Christmas.