France's interior minister backs new immigration law that seeks easier deportation of 'criminal' foreigners

By Nur Asena Erturk

France's interior minister backed a new immigration law Tuesday that would make it easier for authorities to expel criminal foreigners.

"There are yearly 4,000 of them that I cannot expel since the law prevents me from doing it," Gerald Darmanin told broadcaster Sud Radio.

“The parliament, 20 years ago, decided to put an end to expelling criminal foreigners, if they were married in France, for example, or if they came to France before the age of 13," he said.

Darmanin expressed his will to change the law he considered "outdated," and asked parliament to give him the power to expel the individuals.

The upper house of the parliament, the Senate, started debating the draft law Monday.

The project aims to harden the family reunification process, suppressing the state medical assistance and requiring French proficiency as a condition for a residency permit, among other measures.

Article 3 of the draft law was the most debated and is related to giving a one-year residency permit under certain conditions to irregular foreign workers who operate in "sectors under tension," that suffer from labor shortages.

Darmanin said in an interview last that the law "would help better integration and better expelling."