France Moves to Ban Marriage for Undocumented Migrants

 

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.

Generally speaking, about 247,000 marriages take place annually in France, making instances of sham marriages quite rare at roughly a rate of one in about 620.  The reports alleged that some citizens entering a fake marriage are offered around 10,000 euros, according to TF1.