The French lower house rejects Macron’s immigration bill.

In an unexpected decision that cut short deliberations at the lower house and handed a blow to President Emmanuel Macron’s ambitions to enact laws without a majority, French legislators sent the government’s immigration plan back to the drawing board on Monday. This action was a surprise.

On the first day of the bill’s introduction in the National Assembly, lawmakers from Marine Le Pen’s far-right party and many conservatives joined forces to vote against it. They did this by approving a Greens-submitted resolution that received just two votes.

There is no indication that the immigration measure would be terminated due to the rejection, nor does it indicate that the government should quit.

At a meeting with Macron, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin made the offer to retire from his position. Darmanin was the one who brought the measure to the lower chamber of Parliament before it was rejected.

On the other hand, Macron was opposed to this resignation, as Darmanin said to TF1. He also mentioned that the president and Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne had requested that he find another way to present the measure.

Currently, the administration can either send it back to the upper house, send it to a joint committee of senators and deputies to reach a consensus, or pull it all together, which is an improbable option. It can also deploy exceptional executive powers to compel its acceptance without a vote.

“I would want to submit my resignation since it is common practice to do so when one is unsuccessful. We will see what decision we make. “We are going to meet with the Prime Minister tonight, and the President has requested that we present him with the next step for the bill tomorrow,” Darmanin said in an interview with TF1.

The immigration bill has been a central pillar of Macron’s efforts to demonstrate that he can be more stringent on problems about law and order while maintaining France’s openness to foreign workers who can contribute to the economy.

Nevertheless, he has had a difficult time passing a measure with stringent rules that are despised by MPs on the left and more liberal features that are attacked by certain conservatives and those on the extreme right. This is because he does not have a majority in Parliament.

The administration has argued that the law is necessary to facilitate the removal of foreign offenders from the country. As was the case with the accused Russian-born Islamist extremist who was responsible for the death of a French teacher in October, one clause removes a prohibition on removing migrants who arrived in France before the age of thirteen that had previously been in place.

The government’s intention to expedite the legalization of workers in businesses experiencing labor shortages, such as cafés and restaurants, is another item that has been the subject of heated controversy. The question of whether or not non-EU migrants should continue to have access to free medical coverage in France is another provision that has been the subject of heated debate.