France Moves to Ban Marriage for Undocumented Migrants

France Moves to Ban Marriage for Undocumented Migrants

By Fly Cable News

France’s Senate has approved a bill seeking to prohibit undocumented immigrants from getting married in the country, as part of the government’s efforts to tighten immigration laws. The proposed legislation, backed by Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau and Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin, passed its first reading in the upper house on Thursday, with 227 votes in favor and 110 against.

The bill, which aims to prevent sham marriages and curb residence permit loopholes, will now move to the National Assembly for further consideration. However, it contradicts a 2003 ruling by France’s Constitutional Council, which stated that a person’s irregular status alone should not prevent them from marrying.

Critics, including Greens senator Mélanie Vogel and Socialist politician Corinne Narassiguin, have condemned the bill as unconstitutional and fueling xenophobia. The move was reportedly sparked by a 2023 case, where a northern France mayor refused to officiate the marriage of a former mosque leader, who was later deported.

The Senate vote follows another controversy involving Robert Ménard, the mayor of Béziers, who is facing legal action for refusing to officiate a wedding between a French woman and an undocumented Algerian man.