The president of France’s supreme audit institution admits to deliberately delaying the release of a report on illegal immigration costs until after the parliamentary debate—and vote—on immigration law. The report, just released by the Cour des Comptes, shows the exorbitant sum of €1.8 billion charged to illegal immigration in 2023.
Published on Thursday, January 4th, the report is a harsh indictment of government policy, in particular the actions of Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, who boasts of having taken a tough stance on managing illegal immigrants. Darmanin claims to have introduced an effective policy for expelling illegal immigrants and says the expulsion rate of delinquent foreigners is up by 30%.
The first president of the Court, former socialist minister Pierre Moscovici, would normally have published the report in question on December 13th—two days after the vote on the motion to reject the first version of the immigration law—but preferred to remain temporarily silent on a document that is damning for the government. He defended himself by explaining that he did not want “this publication to interfere in any way with the political debate.”
The positive figures put forward by the Ministry are only a small part of a much bleaker overall picture. None of the aspects subjected to the rigorous analysis of the Court advisers is satisfactory.
Border management is judged to be catastrophic, with identity checks virtually never carried out, and no information being seriously collected.
The administrations and courts responsible for deportations are totally saturated, as the number of orders to leave France (Obligation de Quitter le Territoire Français, or OQTF) issued has actually risen by 60% over the last five years, while the number of staff responsible for dealing with them has only increased by 9%. OQTFs are often contested and the administrative courts are unable to manage the cases properly due to a lack of staff and resources.
Another major shortcoming is that deportation orders are issued but not enforced. The debates of the last few months have widely circulated the critical figure of only 10% enforcement of the famous OQTFs, which is now well known to the French public. The report draws the following conclusion:
The disconnect between the number of removal orders issued and their actual enforcement demonstrates the State’s difficulties in enforcing its particularly numerous decisions, even under duress. It sends out the wrong signal.
The report also notes that France is lagging behind its European neighbours in terms of “removal measures.”
The most important figure to take away from this voluminous report is that of the total cost of illegal immigration to France: €1.8 billion per year, essentially borne by the Ministry of the Interior. This staggering figure undermines an argument frequently put forward by the Left, namely that immigration has ‘enriched’ the country. And the Court report only looks at the cost of illegal immigration.
All in all, the content of the report offers nothing really new for those who take a close interest in France’s migration policy, such as the Institut pour la justice, which regularly reports on the failings of government policy in this area. The recommendations to be found in the report are in line with the second version of the immigration bill that was finally adopted by the National Assembly at the end of December, based on recommendations from the Right and the Senate.
The most serious aspect of this episode is the political manoeuvring of President Moscovici, who has arrogated to himself a political role contrary to his status as a public administrator by deliberately hiding a report because he was afraid of providing arguments likely to justify the right-wing’s hard-line stance. This attitude is emblematic of the French deep state’s resistance to genuine immigration reform.