You know one of the first indicators of a programmed zealot Fiddler?
Believing that Russia interfered in our election in any material way. It's especially obvious when it's someone like you who prior to 2016 understood that was realpolitik at the international level and always has been.
But the second is believing a few hundred chinless turd cosplayers was more than it was.
Hey
VYPR you should share some of my quotes from 2015.
I'm finally ready to explain to you why I am so entertained whenever you do.
Isn't it funny how what I said in 2015 is exactly what guys like Fiddler are *still* saying 8 years later? It's almost like ... if you repeat something often enough ...
Queshank
Something tells me, dumbass, that there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth among your coreligionists in a few hours...
Looks like you need a Trump in your country.
3 Questions About France’s Immigration Law Backlash, Answered
The highest constitutional authority in France has ruled on the legality of a strict new immigration law, just days after it sparked protests across the country.
By Elliott Davis Jr.
|
Jan. 25, 2024, at 2:04 p.m.
An opponent of France's immigration law waves flag during a protest in Paris on Jan. 21, 2024.
The French constitutional court on Thursday tossed out multiple parts of a controversial immigration law, days after tens of thousands of people protested across the country decrying the measure’s far-right influences and what its enshrinement might mean for France. More protests reportedly were planned in the wake of the ruling.
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The law, passed in December, aimed to strengthen the country’s immigration policies, including by enhancing its ability to deport foreigners considered “undesirable” and making it more difficult for the foreign-born population to take advantage of social welfare. French President Emmanuel Macron, whose centrist alliance negotiated with the conservative Republicans party to push the law through, said its passage was the “fruit of a compromise.” Meanwhile, far-right leader and former Macron election foe Marine Le Pen described the legislation as an “ideological victory” for her party, the National Rally.
But France’s Constitutional Council struck down more than a third of the measures contained in the law on Thursday, including those that would have toughened conditions for the family reunification of migrants, birthright citizenship and access to state welfare, according to Reuters.
The impending decision from the court – which, at Macron’s request, was tasked with ensuring the law was in line with France’s Constitution – helped send 75,000 protesters to the streets on Sunday, according to Interior Ministry numbers reported by the French newspaper Le Monde. Hundreds of left-wing leaders and environmentalists were among those who called for the demonstrations, writing in France’s daily outlet Libération that the law marked “an unprecedented decline in the protections and rights guaranteed to foreigners” in the country and flouted “the principles of the French Revolution.”
Here is what you need to know about the law and the backlash against it.
What Brought the French People to the Streets to Protest?
While the French have protested numerous times since early 2023, this latest round was specifically tied to the immigration law – which has been so controversial that its passage played a major role in the resignation of former Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne in early January.
The more contentious portions of the legislation were the restrictions on access to social benefits and the introduction of migration quotas, according to Le Monde. Macron, in a December interview, noted that the law was imperfect and that he wanted some provisions changed, including a required payment for foreign students to be able to study in France.
Immigration reform has become a polarizing issue in Europe in general. Germany also recently experienced mass protests, which were linked to opposition to a right-wing political party that discussed the idea of deporting large numbers of foreign-born residents.
The unrest in France is also likely tied to how some French people feel about the country’s political atmosphere more broadly. Onlookers view the law’s passage, for example, as a sign of a shift of the French government to the right, as noted by The Associated Press.
Le Pen’s party now has 88 lawmakers in France’s lower house of Parliament and could run for president again in the next election in 2027, when Macron – whose approval rating has been stuck around 30% for several months – will be term-limited. The National Rally also garnered the highest percentage of support among France’s political parties in a mid-December poll.
“To far-right parties such as Le Pen’s National Rally, immigration represents a threat to French identity and security, as well as a huge economic and social cost, to which the government should respond by closing its borders,” reads a Migration Policy Institute analysis from May 2022.
Is France Facing an Influx of Immigration?
Macron himself has acknowledged that there is more pressure in France from migrant arrivals than a decade ago, but clarified at the same time that the country is not “overwhelmed by immigration.”
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EXPLAINER: Why the French People Are Protesting
This assertion is backed up by government data. The country’s National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies, or INSEE, found in a study released last July that France’s share of the immigrant population had risen from 8.5% in 2010 to 10.3% in 2022. At the same time, after fluctuations across decades, the “number of immigrants has again grown faster than the total population” since the turn of the century, according to a translation of the institute’s report.
France, home to one of the largest Muslim populations in Western Europe, has long experienced heated debates about the role of religion and ethnicity in its society.
In 2022, nearly half of France’s immigrant population had been born in Africa, with the top source countries being Algeria and Morocco, according to INSEE. The Migration Policy Institute piece notes that many Muslim immigrants from North Africa arrived in France in the latter half of the 20th century, which “posed what some interpreted as a challenge to France’s avowedly secular national identity.”
Changing views about what it means to be French have been influenced by Islamist terrorism attacks in the country. In October of 2023, a French teacher was stabbed to death at his school in what authorities suspect was an Islamist attack, raising fears across a nation already familiar with large-scale acts of terrorism.
How Has Public Opinion on Immigration Changed in France?
The French president said in December that the immigration law is “what the French wanted.” And at least one recent poll appears to echo this.
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A survey from BFM-TV/Elabe, published in late December, found that 70% of respondents were satisfied with the new law, but less than half (43%) viewed the text as balanced. And nearly three-quarters (73%) thought the law was inspired by the ideas of the National Rally party.
French public opinion on immigration more broadly, however, is nuanced. Some reports and studies indicate that French people have actually become more positive about immigration in recent years. And while the most recent U.S. News Best Countries survey found that French attitudes about increasing immigrant levels were among the most negative out of 36 countries surveyed, France’s percentage of support for more immigration was slightly higher in 2023 than it was in 2022.
