The head of France’s centre-right opposition UMP party has come under fierce criticism after proposing a law that would revoke automatic citizenship for children born in France of foreign parents illegally residing on French soil.
Jean-François Copé announced late on Tuesday that a new bill, to be presented to the National Assembly in early 2014, was designed to redefine France’s “moribund” immigration laws.
“If one is born of non-French parents living illegally in France, that family neither assumes that it is going to stay in France nor that the child has the right to citizenship,” Copé said.
“The same applies for children born to foreign parents who are here legally. They should not expect automatic citizenship. It should and must be applied for.”
Under current rules, all children born in France to foreign parents get citizenship automatically when they turn 18, provided that they have lived in the country for at least five years from the age of 11.
EU citizens can claim French nationality if they can prove five years’ residency, while everyone else must wait ten years before they can apply.
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