A-Infos (en) France, OCL CA #338 - Darmanin Law: a class war - against the poor and the precarious (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

The immigration law is widely condemned, rightly, as being yet another 
xenophobic law, since it partly takes up ideas from the extreme right: 
national preference, questioning of land law, "foreigner = delinquent" 
stigmatization. ... But putting aside this moral and humanist register, 
it also includes a dimension of social war against the poor and the 
precarious. ---- 40 years after the march for equality and against 
racism, it is clear that the acquisition of the 10-year resident card, 
the flagship demand of this fight, is today in very bad shape. The 
creation of this truly lasting and automatically renewed residence 
permit was at the time a victory allowing us to escape from 
administrative precariousness. This stabilization of the residence 
permit was then put forward to promote the "integration" of foreigners 
in France. It is indeed obvious that the duration of the residence 
permit conditions many aspects of life in society. For those who hold a 
title valid for only one year, even if its renewal is often assured, it 
will be much more difficult to sign a permanent contract, rent 
accommodation, take out credit, travel abroad, etc. without count the 
time-consuming renewal procedures, rarely ending before the end of the 
previous title (see below).
Over the past 40 years, successive reforms have completely reversed the 
logic of the right to stay. Apart from refugees and a few other legal 
categories, in the majority of situations the gateway to settling in 
France is the temporary residence permit (1 year), followed by the 
multi-year residence permit (generally 4 years), then finally the 
resident card. But above all this is now conditional on a successful 
integration process. In other words, the resident card is no longer 
designed as a tool to facilitate its installation, but a reward for the 
most deserving who can justify, despite their administrative precariousness:

social integration, in particular through "stable, regular and 
sufficient resources" (art. L426-17 of the code of entry and stay of 
foreigners in France).
and their "republican" integration, "appreciated in particular with 
regard to[their]personal commitment to respect the principles which 
govern the French Republic, effective respect for these principles 
and[their]sufficient knowledge of the French language". (art. L413-7)
This last component is supported by the French Office of Immigration and 
Integration (OFII), an administration under the supervision of the 
Ministry of the Interior, responsible in particular for signing 
employment contracts. republican integration (CIR) to any new holder of 
a residence permit. This CIR consists of 24 hours of civic training, 200 
to 600 hours of language training and support towards employment.

Instrumentalization of language
The new law goes even further in establishing barriers to access to more 
stable titles by raising the level of French required. To obtain a 
multi-year residence permit, a diploma in oral and written French, at 
intermediate level A2, will be required, i.e. the level required in 
modern language at college. For the resident card, the intermediate 
level A2 is increased to an oral and written diploma of advanced level 
B1 (level required in modern language in high school). And to be 
naturalized French it will be necessary to present an oral and written 
diploma at independent B2 level (level of French required to enter 
university in France).
The French diplomas required to demonstrate the required level will only 
be recognized if they are issued by an organization approved by the 
State. Registration fees for these exams vary depending on the 
organizations and territories between 90 euros and 140 euros. At the 
same time, this raising of the criterion of mastery of the French 
language is not really accompanied by a notable improvement in language 
training. Only an increase of 100 hours is envisaged for the acquisition 
of level A2.
According to the impact study of the bill, 40% of people who apply for a 
multi-year residence permit will not be able to access this title 
because of the language criterion. This represents 20,000 fewer 
allocations of multi-year permits per year and as many people as will be 
maintained with temporary residence permits. The percentage of refusals 
will be equivalent for the issuance of the resident card and 
naturalization. It is easy to imagine which section of society will be 
most affected by this measure: the precarious, the workers working 
impossible hours who will not be able to afford French lessons...

Added to this is a completely new provision limiting a maximum of three 
renewals of the same title. In other words, a person holding a temporary 
card and failing to improve their level of French to move to the 
multi-year card, could find themselves penalized by the end of issuance 
of their title... The law remains silent on their fate afterwards: 
issuance of an obligation to leave French territory (OQTF), placement in 
detention, expulsion, or cynical maintenance in the gray areas of the 
law: neither deportable nor regularizable?
Other articles of the law reinforce administrative precariousness, the 
consequences of which are more difficult to measure at present. The 
republican engagement contract operates a real process of social and 
moral control over foreigners by requiring "respect for the principles 
of the Republic, to respect personal freedom, freedom of expression and 
conscience, equality between women and men, the dignity of the human 
person, the motto and symbols of the Republic within the meaning of 
article 2 of the Constitution, territorial integrity, defined by 
national borders, and not to take advantage of one's beliefs or its 
convictions to free itself from the common rules governing relations 
between public services and individuals.» (art. L412-7). In the same 
logic, a foreign parent must undertake "to provide their child with an 
education that respects the values and principles of the Republic and to 
support them in their integration process, in particular through the 
acquisition of the French language." .» (art L413-2) Follow my gaze... 
No need to rack your brains for long to understand who is meant behind 
the implications of these provisions. It is obviously a strict 
ideological control which is hidden behind these texts, capable of 
striking anyone who dares to cast a critical eye on French institutions.
Finally, the law calls into question the principle of automatic renewal 
of the resident card. Even this most stable title, guaranteeing a right 
to permanent residence - provided that it does not represent a threat to 
public order anyway! - is attacked in its basis by requiring proof of 
habitual residence in France for at least 6 months per year, during the 
last 3 years, at the time of its renewal. We can already imagine the 
bundles of documents to bring to prove one's stay in France... Once 
again, it will be the most precarious, the main victims of this system, 
who will see their administrative status downgraded by the issuance of a 
temporary residence permit. .
On the other hand, to demonstrate its leniency towards the wealthiest, 
the law adopted by parliament included an article allowing British 
people, owners of a second home in France, to automatically benefit from 
a long-stay visa! This provision ultimately underwent formal censorship 
by the constitutional council.
This reform is indeed an undertaking of systematic administrative 
precariousness of thousands of foreigners. As is often the case in 
political communication, it will cause the opposite of what its authors 
claim. Rather than promoting "republican integration", a concept 
rehashed ad nauseam, it aims above all to accentuate the social 
precariousness of non-European foreigners.

Music that sounds false?
We were only able to address a small aspect of this law which includes 
countless other rubbish, even after passage by the constitutional 
council, with for example the invocation of the notion of public order 
to justify expulsions, even for kids who grew up in France or French 
spouses; or the trivialization of internment in detention centers, the 
unraveling of the right to asylum... (see the exhaustive and educational 
decryption on the Cimade website for example) Why such a law in a 
context where it is increasingly more common to hear a change of tone on 
the lack of labor or the French demographics at half mast? France is 
still officially under the regime of the end of labor immigration 
decided by Giscard in 1975. This myth has already crumbled a lot because 
around 30,000 introductions of foreign labor take place each year, and 
the present The law even recognizes some needs with the very restrictive 
provision on professions in shortage. However, this umpteenth law 
against immigration therefore seems completely against the tide of 
developments in the world.
Population movements are inevitable and will in no way be controlled, 
limited or regulated by the gestures of any Minister of the Interior. 
But what we can perceive is that the legislation rather has the effect 
of stratifying human resources by organizing a multitude of 
administrative statuses, ranked hierarchically according to their degree 
of precariousness: at the top of the scale French nationality, at the 
top of the scale French nationality, at the bottom of the scale, 
undocumented immigrants, and in the middle, the various more or less 
precarious residence permits. In this job market, bosses only have to 
make their choice according to their needs. Undocumented immigrants can 
be widely exploited under the minimum wage for the dirtiest jobs (hotels 
and restaurants, construction, deliveries, etc.)*, but represent an 
uncertain workforce, in particular because they can be arrested and 
placed in prison detention. day to day. For professions requiring 
greater stability - medico-social sector, for example - it is more 
interesting to have people in a regular situation, but if possible with 
a precarious title to maintain a certain pressure. And finally for more 
qualified professions, it is preferable to have a workforce that is more 
or less sheltered from administrative "whims". Ultimately, the new law 
is not so dissonant. She cajoles the needs of capital well, in perfect 
coherence with a united political class, from the far right to the 
Macronists, with a common goal: to make society ever more precarious!

Tonio, Vaulx-en-Velin, February 16, 2024

Note
*The controversial article of the Darmanin law allowing, under draconian 
conditions, regularization in professions in shortage does not seem to 
contradict this logic. For the moment, this famous list of professions 
experiencing recruitment difficulties does not include, as luck would 
have it, any of the sectors in which we find the most undocumented 
immigrants, which confirms the desire to maintain part of the labor 
market underground. .

Dematerialization of rights
The new law resonates with the current complexity of the procedures for 
issuing and renewing residence permits. Since 2021, the Ministry of the 
Interior has imposed a dematerialized procedure on the website of the 
digital administration of foreigners in France (ANEF) for the submission 
and examination of residence permits. Some prefectures had already 
innovated in digital tools for making appointments online since 2015, to 
reduce queues, but above all to close the counters and replenish virtual 
waiting lines (!).
ANEF is the higher level of digitalization with also a completely 
dematerialized file instruction. This platform is in the process of 
being generalized for most categories of cards and takes place in quite 
staggering chaos: complex computer interface, use of abstruse jargon 
only in French (logical given the new requirements for mastery of the 
language!), obligation to master the internet, to have email, to know 
how to scan documents in the correct format, absurd document 
requirements, untimely and inextricable computer blockages and bugs, 
etc. A veritable computer hell where all human interface has disappeared 
because the prefectures are now totally closed to the public and 
unreachable. As a result, thousands of foreign users are unable to 
obtain or renew their card in time and find themselves in an 
administrative black hole, leading to loss of work, loss of housing, 
interruption of Pole emploi, CAF, rights, etc.
This is how a dramatic news story unfolded at the beginning of February 
in Lille where a young refugee lost her daughter to carbon monoxide 
poisoning. For 18 months, she had been desperately trying to get her 
residence permit issued in the twists and turns of dematerialization 
and, unable to prove her regularity, had lost access to work, 
unemployment benefits, family benefits, etc. Deprived of electricity in 
her home she had been forced to use a brazier to heat it... The young 
woman's lawyer took the case to the administrative court to hold the 
prefecture responsible.

P.-S.
Illustrations Pénélope Paicheler, short guide "Refusing the factory of 
undocumented immigrants", on the Cimade website.

https://oclibertaire.lautre.net/spip.php?article4098
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S  N E W S  S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
Subscribe/Unsubscribe https://ainfos.ca/mailman/listinfo/a-infos-en
Archive: http://ainfos.ca/en