Thousands march against ‘racist’ immigration laws in France

TENS of thousands marched in towns and cities across France at the weekend to denounce a new immigration law they say is racist. Protesters chanted "down with the police state" and denounced Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, whose eponymous "Darmanin law" makes it easier for France to expel immigrants. The proposed law reduces the number of possible appeals against deportation from 12 to four and would see "wanted" notices issued for individuals whose leave to remain has been cancelled.

Though it makes exceptions for immigrants in sectors afflicted by labour shortages, "once a shortage is overcome in a particular sector, any migrant worker in that field will lose their residence permit after a year and be expelled from France," Mr Darmanin claimed while trying to address criticisms from the far-right National Rally that it will regularise migration. Communist MP Thomas Portes said the admission revealed the new law amounted to turning migrant labourers into "cannon fodder for employers," effectively telling them: "You come, you work, we exploit you and then we expel you." The law is "vomit," he charged.

Mr Darmanin says the law will "make life impossible" for irregular migrants, including by cutting off all access to benefits and housing. The Paris rally, organised by the United Against Disposable Immigration campaign, marched behind a banner reading "No to the Darmanin Law: Against Repression, Detention and Expulsions, For a Welcoming Migration Policy." Marcher Aboubacar, an undocumented Malian fighting for regularised status, said: "The problem isn't immigration -- it's exploitation and rogue bosses.

This is a racist law, which aims to criminalise foreigners." Demonstrators also protested against Operation Wuambushu, a recent drive to expel Comoros islanders from Mayotte, a French-ruled island forming part of the island chain off Madagascar. Comoros authorities have said they will no longer accept deportees from Mayotte.

France Unbowed MP Manuel Bompard, marching in Marseille, said the racist immigration law and the operation in Mayotte were linked.

One was a law "clearly inspired by the National Rally" while the other was a "deplorable, unbearable operation violating people's fundamental rights."

In Rennes, marchers chanted "Darmanin in the Vilaine," the river that runs through the Breton city.