DNA tests and deportation targets
French Left Resists Sarkozy's Immigration Crackdown
Der Spiegel
The immigration debate is hotting up in France, as left-wing politicians and human rights groups face off against the government's plans for tougher immigration laws, including DNA tests. Now eight Paris mayors say they won't cooperate with implementing Sarkozy's deportation targets.
The French goverment is toughening up its immigration policies, with plans to introduce DNA tests for prospective immigrants and demands that local officals meet their deportation targets. But the left is hitting back, with eight Paris mayors saying they won't cooperate and human rights groups accusing the government of treating immigrants as "disposable objects" instead of human beings.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy campaigned on a law and order platform, which included a pledge to crack down on illegal immigration and make it harder for foreigners to make France their home. His government is now considering introducing DNA tests for prospective immigrants, while his Immigration Minister Brice Hortefeux has told local prefects they are not doing enough to hit the president's deportation targets.
Sarkozy had promised to expel 25,000 illegal immigrants from France by the end of 2007. But Hortefeux, who is head of the newly created Ministry of Immigration and National Identity, is struggling to meet the target, with only 11,000 having been shown the door in the first seven months of the year. "I want numbers!" Sarkozy told the minister in a meeting last month, according to Le Point magazine. "It's a campaign commitment. The French are expecting this from me," he was reported as saying.
But the first rumbles of rebellion are emerging. On Thursday, eight mayors in the Paris region lashed out at government pressure to expel more immigrants, a day after Hortefeux berated 19 regional officials for falling short of the targets.
(Continued here.)
Der Spiegel
The immigration debate is hotting up in France, as left-wing politicians and human rights groups face off against the government's plans for tougher immigration laws, including DNA tests. Now eight Paris mayors say they won't cooperate with implementing Sarkozy's deportation targets.
The French goverment is toughening up its immigration policies, with plans to introduce DNA tests for prospective immigrants and demands that local officals meet their deportation targets. But the left is hitting back, with eight Paris mayors saying they won't cooperate and human rights groups accusing the government of treating immigrants as "disposable objects" instead of human beings.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy campaigned on a law and order platform, which included a pledge to crack down on illegal immigration and make it harder for foreigners to make France their home. His government is now considering introducing DNA tests for prospective immigrants, while his Immigration Minister Brice Hortefeux has told local prefects they are not doing enough to hit the president's deportation targets.
Sarkozy had promised to expel 25,000 illegal immigrants from France by the end of 2007. But Hortefeux, who is head of the newly created Ministry of Immigration and National Identity, is struggling to meet the target, with only 11,000 having been shown the door in the first seven months of the year. "I want numbers!" Sarkozy told the minister in a meeting last month, according to Le Point magazine. "It's a campaign commitment. The French are expecting this from me," he was reported as saying.
But the first rumbles of rebellion are emerging. On Thursday, eight mayors in the Paris region lashed out at government pressure to expel more immigrants, a day after Hortefeux berated 19 regional officials for falling short of the targets.
(Continued here.)
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