Bregeon’s announcement comes less than a year after France adopted an immigration law following months of wrangling, and the new proposals are spurring fresh tensions in the National Assembly lower house divided into three blocs.

Gabriel Attal, Barnier’s predecessor and now leader in parliament of President Emmanuel Macron’s Renaissance party, said Monday a new law did not seem a “total priority.”

“Adopting a law for the sake of a law makes no sense,” he told broadcaster France inter.

He said “the priority is to act so that the state can truly control who enters and leaves” France.

Far-right National Rally (RN) leader Jordan Bardella Monday welcomed the plan, saying that “nothing can be done without us in parliament.”

The government’s plan to tighten immigration policies and border controls is emblematic of the rightward shift in French politics following this summer’s legislative elections that resulted in a hung parliament.

The rape and murder of a Paris student in September has further inflamed French debate on migration after a Moroccan was named as the suspected attacker.

– ‘No taboos’ –

Last December’s immigration law caused a revolt within Macron’s party, prompting the health minister to quit the government.

The bill was hardened to gain the support of  far-right and right-wing MPs.

But the country’s highest constitutional authority censured most of the new amendments which were dropped before Macron signed it into law.

The measures struck down by the Constitutional Council “will serve as a basis for the new immigration bill”, a government source told AFP. “Some of them could be modified and there will be additions.”

The most hardline member of the government, Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, has vowed to crack down on immigration, stirring controversy just days into the job, saying that “the rule of law is neither intangible nor sacred”.

Retailleau, who previously headed the Republicans party in the Senate, was seen as the driving force behind the tough legislation last year.

He wants to reinstate the offence of illegal residence, among other measures.

The government also wants to extend the detention period for undocumented migrants deemed to be dangerous in order to better enforce expulsion orders.

One of the options under consideration is to increase the maximum period of detention from 90 to 210 days, which is now only possible for terrorist offences.

“We don’t rule out the possibility of considering other provisions”, said Bregeon, adding that there should be “no taboos when it comes to protecting the French.”

The new bill will likely see resistance from a left-wing alliance, which has won the most seats in the National Assembly.

Socialist leader Olivier Faure denounced the plan as a gift to the far-right to ensure that it does not oppose the adoption of a deficit-slashing budget or censure the government.

Far-right parties performed strongly in elections in key European countries this summer, prompting even centrist and left-wing governments to tighten policies on migration, sparking concern among activists.

Benoit Hamon, director of Singa, a non-governmental group, said — apparently ironically — the announcement was “logical.”

“Since budgetary austerity is going to demolish public services and French jobs, we need to find a scapegoat,” he said on X.

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© Agence France-Presse