French Left Resists Sarkozy's Immigration Crackdown

sep 07 via WOJ

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.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy wants tougher immigration laws in France.
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REUTERS

French President Nicolas Sarkozy wants tougher immigration laws in France.

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 ...


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.