section_path: Presidency (2017–present)/Second term (2022–present)/Domestic affairs/Immigration policy
section_name: Immigration policy
paragraph_text: Immigration policy
  
  In February 2023, Macron's government introduced an immigration and asylum bill aimed at removing deportation safeguards, fast-tracking asylum application process and immigration litigation, while also facilitating legalization of undocumented workers. His government later pulled the draft legislation amid fears of defeat in Parliament, instead planning to hold talks with the centre-right LR party before reintroducing the bill in the autumn.
  
  In August 2023, in a lengthy interview with weekly magazine Le Point, Macron said that France "must significantly reduce immigration, starting with illegal immigration" because the "current situation is not sustainable".
  
  On 11 December 2023, the "flagship" immigration bill introduced by Macron's government was unexpectedly defeated after the narrow passage of a motion for preliminary dismissal in the National Assembly. Political commentators and news media described the vote as a "spectacular debacle", eventually sparking a major political crisis for Macron's minority administration.
  
  In an effort to salvage the bill, Macron's government sent the draft legislation to a joint parliamentary committee: it resulted in a deal with the conservative-controlled Senate on a drastically hardened bill. On 19 December 2023, the French Parliament passed the piece of legislation thanks to support from the conservative LR and far-right RN parliamentary groups and in spite of a major rebellion from Macron's own coalition and ministers. Health Minister Aurélien Rousseau, whom Macron had appointed to the government only six months earlier, resigned shortly after the vote.
  
  In February 2023, Macron's government introduced an immigration and asylum bill aimed at removing deportation safeguards, fast-tracking asylum application process and immigration litigation, while also facilitating legalization of undocumented workers. His government later pulled the draft legislation amid fears of defeat in Parliament, instead planning to hold talks with the centre-right LR party before reintroducing the bill in the autumn.
  
  In August 2023, in a lengthy interview with weekly magazine Le Point, Macron said that France "must significantly reduce immigration, starting with illegal immigration" because the "current situation is not sustainable".
  
  On 11 December 2023, the "flagship" immigration bill introduced by Macron's government was unexpectedly defeated after the narrow passage of a motion for preliminary dismissal in the National Assembly. Political commentators and news media described the vote as a "spectacular debacle", eventually sparking a major political crisis for Macron's minority administration.
  
  In an effort to salvage the bill, Macron's government sent the draft legislation to a joint parliamentary committee: it resulted in a deal with the conservative-controlled Senate on a drastically hardened bill. On 19 December 2023, the French Parliament passed the piece of legislation thanks to support from the conservative LR and far-right RN parliamentary groups and in spite of a major rebellion from Macron's own coalition and ministers. Health Minister Aurélien Rousseau, whom Macron had appointed to the government only six months earlier, resigned shortly after the vote.
  
  In February 2023, Macron's government introduced an immigration and asylum bill aimed at removing deportation safeguards, fast-tracking asylum application process and immigration litigation, while also facilitating legalization of undocumented workers. His government later pulled the draft legislation amid fears of defeat in Parliament, instead planning to hold talks with the centre-right LR party before reintroducing the bill in the autumn.
  
  In August 2023, in a lengthy interview with weekly magazine Le Point, Macron said that France "must significantly reduce immigration, starting with illegal immigration" because the "current situation is not sustainable".
  
  On 11 December 2023, the "flagship" immigration bill introduced by Macron's government was unexpectedly defeated after the narrow passage of a motion for preliminary dismissal in the National Assembly. Political commentators and news media described the vote as a "spectacular debacle", eventually sparking a major political crisis for Macron's minority administration.
  
  In an effort to salvage the bill, Macron's government sent the draft legislation to a joint parliamentary committee: it resulted in a deal with the conservative-controlled Senate on a drastically hardened bill. On 19 December 2023, the French Parliament passed the piece of legislation thanks to support from the conservative LR and far-right RN parliamentary groups and in spite of a major rebellion from Macron's own coalition and ministers. Health Minister Aurélien Rousseau, whom Macron had appointed to the government only six months earlier, resigned shortly after the vote.