Source : BRICS NEWS
French lawmakers are set to vote on a proposal to grant legal status to up to 400,000 undocumented workers, BRICS News reported on Tuesday, October 27, in a move that has reopened one of the most divisive debates in French politics.
BRICS News said in a post on X that France will vote on granting amnesty to up to 400,000 illegal immigrants. According to POLITICO Europe and upday, the National Assembly will vote on November 19 on the Socialist Party proposal, which targets an estimated 300,000 to 400,000 people who have worked in France for more than six months without proper documentation.
The bill was introduced by Socialist MP Paul Christophle and lodged with the National Assembly on October 6, 2026, according to the Assembly’s legislative records. It has been referred to the laws committee.
The text consists of a single article. It would amend France’s code on the entry and residence of foreigners so that any foreign national, whatever their residence status, who can prove by any means that they have worked in France for at least six months, consecutive or not, during the previous 24 months would be regularised. In the bill’s explanatory statement, Christophle says this would mean the immediate regularisation of about 300,000 undocumented workers.
The proposal draws directly on Spain’s example. Christophle’s text praises the government of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez for having “chosen to provide foreign nationals with the legal means to settle and work” instead of “trying, in vain, to control migration flows”. Earlier this year, Spain moved to grant legal status to around half a million undocumented immigrants who could prove residence, employment or family ties and had no criminal record, POLITICO reported.
The explanatory statement argues that undocumented workers play an essential role in sectors such as construction, hospitality and care work, and that many pay taxes and social contributions without receiving the full benefits. It also criticises French immigration policy since 2017, including the immigration law of January 26, 2024, and a government circular of January 23, 2025, which it says tightened the conditions for regularisation.
Speaking to Sud Radio on October 14, Christophle said there were “hundreds of thousands of people in France who are undocumented and who work” and that they should be given residence permits. He said the issue should not be left “in the hands of the right and the far right”.
The bill faces a difficult path. POLITICO reported that it is likely to unite left-leaning MPs but is expected to fail because of opposition from centre-right and far-right groups in the Assembly.
The vote also has a political dimension ahead of next year’s presidential election. According to POLITICO, the measure is expected to be backed by centre-left candidate Raphaël Glucksmann, whose campaign hopes it will expose divisions between lawmakers supporting President Emmanuel Macron and more progressive voters who elected him in 2022.
Immigration remains a central issue in French politics, and the debate over the proposal is likely to intensify in the run-up to the November 19 vote.
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