French Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin has called for an immigration moratorium of up to three years amid record numbers of foreign nationals living in the country.
In an apparent opening gambit for the 2027 French presidential election to replace Emmanuel Macron in the Élysée Palace, veteran cabinet member Gérald Darmanin seems intent on staking out a more hardline stance on immigration among the centre-right.
In an interview with broadcaster LCI, the Justice Minister said that France should implement a “suspension of immigration” for two to three years. This would include all work or family-related visas, while some exceptions could be made for doctors, researchers, and some students, Darmanin said.
Arguing that the French economy has become addicted to cheap migrant labour, the cabinet minister said that a migration moratorium would require wage increases to attract inactive workers already in the country to such jobs.
He noted the “hypocrisy” of France having a relatively high unemployment rate — currently nearly eight per cent — yet continuing to recruit foreign labour to fill vacant positions.
Darmanin argued that migration levels should then be limited following a moratorium, and that an annual cap on the number of migrants should be determined according to public will.
“I think we should ask the French people directly about quota policies, to say: ‘how many do you want?’”
The position from the long-time Macronist minister, clearly made public with an eye towards the upcoming presidential election, puts Darmanin in line with populist National Rally leaders Jordan Bardella and Marine Le Pen, both of whom have long called for a migration moratorium and a public referendum on migration.
While the Justice Minister will more likely be competing for votes in the presidential election — at least initially — with figures such as former Prime Minister Édouard Philippe and former Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, the early hardline position from a centrist candidate demonstrates the degree to which the Overton Window has shifted on the issue of migration in France.
It comes as the number of foreigners in France with residence permits reached an all-time high of over 4.5 million in 2025, up 3.2 per cent from the previous year. It means that foreign nationals, excluding those who have received French citizenship, now account for over eight per cent of the total population, Le Figaro reported.
The foreign cohort is dominated by the Maghreb countries of Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia, all of which were formerly French colonial outposts. According to the Directorate General for Foreigners in France (DGEF), Algerians are the largest foreign group, with 658,000, followed by Moroccans at 621,000 and Tunisians at 312,000.
The report found that overall, nearly six out of ten new French citizens originally hail from Africa.
Commenting on the figures, National Rally leader Jordan Bardella said: “384,000 first residence permits were granted in France in 2025: an 11% increase and an absolute record in the history of our country. Nothing is being done to stem the dizzying rise in immigration.
“This senseless policy puts the French people at risk of disappearance: if the French trust us, we will put a definitive end to it and finally regain control.”
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