French left and right unite to stop migration bill

A key immigration reform bill supported by French President Emmanuel Macron's government has been defeated.

MPs from the far right, far left and moderate right and left voted on Monday to reject the bill.

The government says the bill aims both to control immigration and better integrate migrants.

The left argues its measures are too repressive, while the right says the version presented to parliament is not tough enough.

The bill would make it easier for the government to expel migrants who are sentenced to prison sentences of five years or longer and make it more difficult for migrants to bring family members to France, among other measures.

It is, however, significantly more lenient than a draft proposed by the Senate, the upper house of parliament which is dominated by the right, which would have severely reduced access to healthcare and benefits for illegal migrants.

Mr Macron's hardline Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin had strongly supported the draft law. Before the vote, he said on X (formerly Twitter), that if passed, the bill would allow the government to deport "very dangerous" foreign nationals, including drug dealers.

But his efforts to convince opposition MPs to back him failed when disparate factions voted for a motion to reject the bill. MPs from the far-right National Rally joined those from the far-left France Unbowed, the right-wing Republicans and smaller parties to defeat the government.

Before the vote, Arthur Delaporte, an MP for the centre-left Socialist party, said his party would vote against the bill as it was "unjust, scandalous and a threat to freedom".

Mr Macron's party lost its a majority in parliament in elections in June 2022. Since then, the government has frequently found itself unable to win votes in parliament.

A measure used by Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne to pass laws without a vote cannot be used to clear this draft.