Undocumented migrants are at the heart of political debates in France. Indeed, the French political class is composed mainly of the left but also of the right, the latter questions all the decisions taken by the French Government with regard to immigration, but also and above all those taken with regard to the -papers.
An amendment carried by the parliamentarians of the Les Républicains (LR) party and discussed last Friday in the Senate proposes to abolish the 50% reduction granted to illegal immigrants in transport in Île-de-France.
Indeed, LR senators are returning to the charge with an amendment discussed during the examination of the 2023 finance bill and which proposes to abolish the 50% reduction granted to foreigners in an irregular situation in public transport in Île-de- France. -France.
It should be noted that transport services in the Ile-de-France region provide a reduction for people with low income or financial resources. It is thanks to this that undocumented migrants can pay for public transport tickets at half price, or even weekly and monthly subscriptions with a 75% reduction. And to support this, the bearer of this amendment, Senator LR Philippe Tabarot underlines that “This semi-free raises questions all the more when everyone is asked to make an effort”.
How many illegal immigrants benefit from this reduction?
According to figures put forward by the region concerned, these reductions would cost Île-de-France Mobilités 43 million euros each year and would currently benefit 85,000 illegal immigrants. Or the equivalent of 1.50 euro of the price of the Navigo pass, according to the party of Valérie Pécresse, at a time when transport services are seeking financial resources to cope with the poor economic situation.
The LR president, Valérie Pécresse of this region has been opposed for years to what she considers to be “a bonus for illegality” which goes back to the Jospin government.
Darmanin targets people under OQTF
Last Thursday, November 17, Gérald Darmanin, the French Minister of the Interior, asked the prefects to apply more firmly the requests for the Obligation to leave French territory (OQTF), by “systematically” registering foreigners under the OQTF to the file of wanted persons, in order to “count all foreigners under OQTF leaving the national territory, which is not the case today”.
Indeed, the French Minister of the Interior asked the prefects to apply more firmly the obligations to leave French territory to “all” foreigners in an irregular situation and no longer only to “delinquent foreigners”, priority targets of his immigration bill.
Gérald Darmanin asks to apply to all foreigners under OQTF the method used for monitoring foreign offenders, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP). For this, Gérald Darmanin calls on the prefects to issue these measures “following an arrest or a refusal of a residence permit ” and to “execute a real ‘residence police'”.
