Around ten illegal foreigners working as meal delivery workers were arrested by the police in Grenoble and other towns in Isère on December 27. Éric Piolle and other left-wing elected officials denounced this operation, referring more broadly to the immigration law.
If the immigration law is now adopted after many twists and turns, do not believe that the debates sparked by the government’s text are over. The proof? This message from the environmentalist mayor of Grenoble, Éric Piolle, after the arrest on Wednesday December 27 of around ten illegal meal delivery men in several towns in Isère – including the one he heads – reported by The Dauphiné Libéré.
While castigating the “indignity” of this approach, the councilor called on the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin, on the front line to defend the executive’s project:
“So these people would be ‘regular’ enough to wait in the cold to deliver your meals to you, but not to live with us in dignity?”
And the Grenoble elected official promised the defense of “these shadow workers” during a press conference “alongside the CGT Isère” this Friday at 11 a.m. at the Grenoble labor exchange.
“Here is the true face of this government”
Éric Piolle brought in his wake several left-wing leaders, including the presidents of the environmental groups of both houses of Parliament, Guillaume Gontard and Cyrielle Chatelain, also elected in the department.
“The immigration text of shame has not even been promulgated, not yet censored by the Constitutional Council, but already Gérald Darmanin is attacking workers in the middle of the Christmas break,” denounced the first on X, before the second do not increase:
“What a shame. This is the true face of this government: being mean to all foreigners, even if they work, even if they integrate.”
Same story for the first secretary of the Socialist Party, Olivier Faure, who also made his comment: “If all foreigners in a regular or irregular situation went on strike for one day, everyone would realize that they are in all second-line professions, delivery drivers, carers, forklift drivers, childminders…rented during the Covid crisis and then…”, he wrote on X (ex-Twitter).
Illustration of the debates on immigration law
Basically, the sequence revives the disagreements around undocumented workers, illustrated during the examination of the immigration bill. It is an understatement to say that the text does not meet the expectations of the left on the subject.
She, who wanted to go further than the creation of a residence permit for professions in shortage, initially desired by the government, saw this measure transformed into an “exceptional” provision, at the discretion of the prefects.
All of this symbolizes a copy largely hardened under pressure from the right in the joint committee. To the point that the left had mentioned a “ignominy of the extreme right” taking up the “national preference” defended by the National Rally.
The Grenoble prosecutor responds to Piolle
Faced with criticism from Éric Piolle, the Grenoble public prosecutor justified the arrests made in the city:
“These checks were carried out at my request. They also revealed that illegal delivery drivers were seriously exploited by those who sublet their licenses to them,” he said.
The prosecutor thus refers to an illegal system used as a business by its protagonists: delivery company licenses sublet to undocumented workers, who cannot directly hold them.
If the checks revealed this offense, the operation was initially aimed primarily at combating drug trafficking, a source close to the investigation told BFMTV. After the discovery of these facts, an investigation was opened for concealed work. This aims to identify people who lend their account for money.
Of the fifty people checked in Grenoble and its surroundings, nine were arrested. Among them, six were subject to obligations to leave French territory and were therefore entrusted to the Border Police (PAF) for execution of the OQTF. The remaining three were summoned later.
Baptiste Farge with Maxime Brandstaetter
2023-12-29 10:42:00
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