French President Emmanuel Macron’s latest immigration policy is much criticized, but he feels it is much required to fix the dysfunctional immigration system. In his most recent bid to save France from illegal immigrants, Macron has streamlined the process for asylum seekers and brought in stronger rules including detention for illegal immigrants. Macron feels that French migration and integration policies are severely broken and need amendments. Even though France has rules and regulations for deporting migrants who have entered illegally, they rarely implemented. Nicolas Sarkozy, the former French president, made promises that he would make sure rules are implemented but never were. Addressing issues related to immigration has feared politicians that people will end up voting for the National Front. Macron has the dual responsibility of being a supporter of immigrants and also a security guard protecting right-wing voter borders. Gerard Collomb, French interior minister, launched the law in December 2017 but was welcomed rather harshly by Republique en Marche party, Macron’s party, and called it unworthy of French values. Macron had to take down the policy and discuss it with civil society groups. He finally came up with a reform that was fair and efficient, which involves immigrant integration. All he has to do in the coming weeks is prove to lawmakers that he has made an impartial choice.

Emotionally charged subject

Macron needs to be a better president and supporter of immigration than his predecessors Nicholas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande. While Sarkozy was very aggressive on papers, his policies never saw the day, Hollande was far too aggressive to make sense and was overpowered by Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, with her sensible immigration policies. If successfully implemented, Macron’s immigration policy would bring France close to its immigrants, especially Muslim ones. It would also be a positive example to help Europe reduce its struggle with immigration.