New government says “non” to amnesty plan
Faced with the expectations of voters who elected him on an anti-immigration platform cribbed from nationalist Jean-Marie Le Pen, new conservative French President Nicolas Sarkozy has signalled a willingness to clamp down on Third World immigration.
Sarkozy’s new Ministry of Immigration and National Identity has rejected calls for amnesty for the huge population of illegal immigrants now residing in France. Sarkozy’s point man Brice Hortefeux was quoted on Europe 1 radio saying that “We have to put aside massive legalization. It doesn’t work and it penalizes, even immigrants.” Hortefeux said that he aimed for 25,000 deportations for the remainder of 2007. Hortefeux also acknowledged the complicity of business in the illegal immigration nightmare, pledging to “meet with” leading corporate figures.
On the downside, “family unification” will continue under Sarkozy. This is the program that rewards Third World immigrants by allowing them to bring their families to France. In keeping with the prevailing myth that “integration” of immigrants will solve the astounding problems associated with immigration, Hortefeux has pledged to pursue programs that will supposedly imbue such people with “French values” and discourage them from going on welfare. While this is not going to work, of course, it may buy the multicultural experiment time, if it is able to blunt some of the more egregious effects of Third World immigration, like public Islamic displays.While the new plans are half-measures at best, they signal important changes that have occurred within France thanks to the hard work of Le Pen and his Front National to “mainstream” nationalism and make it part of the political dialogue. The ineffectiveness of conservative plans and programs will only further legitimize the thinking of the FN and the millions who vote for them.
The new programs also show that public pressure works. After Le Pen destroyed the hopes of the Socialists in the 2002 Presidential elections, the establishment was put on notice that business as usual would not continue. Sarkozy’s 2007 immigration stance was a direct attempt to co-opt the Le Pen effect, slowing the Third World onslaught and bringing a definitive answer to the French immigration crisis closer than ever before.