French President Macron on the New Immigration Law: “A shield we needed”

Strict new immigration legislation was referred to by President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday as a “shield” that would help France better battle illegal immigration and speed up the integration of those who arrived legally.

“It’s a shield that we needed,” Macron said about the bill that has deeply divided his party and led to Aurelien Rousseau, his health minister, quitting.

“As a leader, you have obligations,” Macron said to the France 5 host.

Macron said that in addition to “calming the tensions,” the government must “stand by” the legislation.

On Tuesday, after 18 months of debate, both houses of parliament approved the contentious bill that was one of the main initiatives of Macron’s second term.

The measure received support from Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (RN), which some media outlets referred to as a “kiss of death”.

Earlier on Wednesday, Macron said that he “respects” Rousseau’s departure.

“I also have a lot of respect for the deputies of the governing coalition who voted in favour of the law although they did not like all its aspects,” he said.

Macron refuted claims that the bill mirrored the beliefs of the RN.

“We need to handle the problems that they feed on,” said Macron, in order to prevent the extreme right from winning power.