A spokesperson for the French government, Maude Bregeon, announced on Sunday that France’s newly appointed interior minister, Bruno Retailleau, has proposed a new immigration law to be adopted by the beginning of 2025 “to protect the French people.”

According to Bregeon, the essential point of the new immigration law would be to prolong detention periods for irregular migrants who present a public danger. Currently, irregular migrants can only be held in administrative detention for up to 90 days. The proposed law seeks to extend this limit to a maximum of 210 days, representing a significant change to France’s approach to immigration enforcement.

This proposal follows the January 2024 immigration law, which faced substantial setbacks when the Constitutional Council struck down 32 provisions, including provisions on restricting access to social benefits and the introduction of immigration quotas. These provisions were deemed unconstitutional.

Shortly after being appointed Minister of Interior in September, Retailleau vowed to end illegal migration and “restore order” in France. Retailleau signaled several reforms, such as re-instating illegal migration as a criminal act and reforming the law that gives free medical assistance to immigrants after three months in the country. In 2012, former President François Holland instated the “Circulaire Valls” law, which ended the criminal offense of illegal residence, preventing law enforcement from taking individuals in an irregular situation into criminal custody.