France’s Senate approved a bill on Thursday that would prohibit undocumented immigrants from marrying in the country, as part of a broader effort to tighten immigration policies. The draft law, supported by Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau and Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin, passed its first reading in the upper house with 227 votes in favor and 110 against. It must now be reviewed by the National Assembly.
The proposed legislation aims to prevent sham marriages and close loopholes that allow undocumented migrants to obtain residency or citizenship through marriage. However, critics argue that it contradicts a 2003 ruling by France’s Constitutional Council, which stated that a person’s irregular immigration status should not prevent them from marrying.
Greens senator Mélanie Vogel condemned the bill as “a full-scale attack on the Constitution,” while Socialist politician Corinne Narassiguin accused the government of fueling “an anxiety-provoking climate of xenophobia and racism.”
The initiative follows a 2023 case in which a mayor in northern France refused to officiate a wedding for a former mosque leader, who later faced deportation. Another incident involved the mayor of Béziers, Robert Ménard, who was summoned by prosecutors for blocking the marriage of a French woman and an undocumented Algerian man.
Under French law, all marriages must be conducted in city halls, making local officials central to the enforcement of any new restrictions.
