“The law of shame”, “not in our name” and “we all have equal human rights” were some of the expressions that Prensa Latina collected in Trocadero Square in Paris, where one of the more than 160 registered mobilizations began. on French soil.
For the second Sunday in a row, numerous people, with the support of left-wing political forces, followed the calls of social organizations and trade unions for protests, for which in today's case 200 personalities from club life and trade unions had already taken to the streets.
The demonstrators called for the resignation of Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin and recalled traditional French values such as equality, fraternity, solidarity and justice.
At the marches there were many calls for the legalization of the situation of hundreds of thousands of undocumented foreign workers, which will be limited to a maximum through the initiative negotiated by the government and the Conservatives in a joint parliamentary commission, with benefit for the latter.
In addition to Paris, demonstrations took place in Marseille, Lyon, Bordeaux, Toulouse, Lille, Nantes, Strasbourg, Metz, Caen and other cities.
The mobilizations represent an attempt to put pressure on the Constitutional Council, which will give its opinion on January 25 on whether or not the immigration law complies with Magna Carta, the only step left for the promulgation of the norm by President Emmanuel Macron .
The text sparks controversy as it is seen as an ideological victory by the far right, with measures such as charging a security deposit for foreign students to enter universities in France.
It also restricts family reunification, limits support for legal residents, such as housing, and calls for reform of government medical assistance for undocumented people, a benefit the rights seek to abolish.
According to those in the know, the Council is unlikely to censor the law as a whole, although it is quite possible that it will reject some articles or at least parts of its content.
The government itself admitted that there are sections that it does not like, such as collecting a deposit from foreign students.
rgh/wmr