French President Emmanuel Macron will deliver a speech today on the new immigration bill, as broadcast by the television network BFM TV.

The French National Assembly approved the controversial immigration bill late last night, Tuesdayclosing a difficult chapter for the Macron government, which is expected to have serious political implications as the bill was adopted with the unexpected support of the extreme right.

A committee of MPs and senators yesterday evening reached a preliminary agreement on the immigration bill after long and difficult negotiations and an initial rejection by the National Assembly on 11 December.

Finally yesterday late the National Assembly approved the bill with 349 votes in favor and 186 against out of a total of 535 voters. It was voted for by a majority of MPs from Macron’s party, as well as MPs from Les Republicains (right) and the far-right National Alarm (RN).

The Senate, where the right and the center have a majority, had approved the bill earlier in the day by a vote of 214 to 114.

“The majority came together and was able to adopt extremely strong measures in a bill that is certainly not perfect as it is the fruit of consensus,” commented Interior Minister Gerald Darmanen, underlining that the bill could have been passed without the support of the RN.

The government had initially announced that the proposed provisions would make it easier for migrants working in sectors where there is a shortage of labor to obtain a residence permit. But at the same time, the deportation of irregular immigrants would also become easier.

But as it does not have a majority in the National Assembly after the 2022 elections and to secure the support of the right, the Macron government has agreed to gradually strengthen the conditions under which some irregular migrants will be granted residence permits and make it more difficult for them to access social benefits, among other things. The agreement “leans” to the right, mainly because many conservative MPs and senators participated in the committee. The left wing of Macron’s party even expressed dissatisfaction with some of the articles, which it considers too right-wing.

In fact, Health Minister Aurelien Rousseau submitted a letter of resignation to French Prime Minister Elizabeth Bourne yesterday, although she has not yet announced whether she has accepted it, according to a ministerial source who confirmed the information of Le Figaro newspaper.

Besides, a ministerial source pointed out that two more members of Macron’s government, Higher Education Minister Sylvie Retagio and Housing Minister Patrice Vergrit also “threatened to resign” yesterday after the National Alarm announced it would support the bill.

“It is a necessary, useful bill that the French expect. A bill that is effective and in line with our values,” Bourne said in a post on X.

It remains to be seen whether all is well in Macron’s Renaissance party. A minister who spoke on condition of anonymity told AFP he was “not at all comfortable” with the outcome of the vote and the RN’s positive votes.

The far-right party’s support for the bill looks like a “kiss of death” for the government, commented an MP from the Renaissance party. “The RN has us in its hands, we lost in everything”, estimated another MP from the centrist party.