According to EU Helpers, the French left has been debating the move, which was first supported by the country's conservative party. Several government officials, including the health minister Aurelien Rousseau, have expressed opposition to the proposal.
The bill suggests doing away with State Medical Aid (AME), which provides access to healthcare for undocumented migrants.
The move is reckless, as Green Party deputy Yannick Jadot noted in front of the Chamber.
However, the measure's proponent, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, claimed that the mechanism's estimated €1.14 billion cost made the proposal economically unviable. Other provisions in the act include raising the minimum proficiency in French required to receive a residency visa, strengthening family reunification, and easing the requirements for expelling undocumented immigrants.
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has voiced criticism of the bill's provisions, so French lawmakers are not the only ones who have voiced their disapproval. The organization states that it is likely against the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which France is a part of, to undermine provisions against the expulsion and removal of foreign individuals, especially minors.
Furthermore, as Human Rights Watch stated, French politicians should seize the chance to put an end to the imprisonment of all children in immigration detention, as the European Court for Human Rights has ruled against France's legislation to deport children.
Furthermore, even if a person fits inside a legal protection category, the draft law would allow the authorities to order them to leave France. The same laws may even jeopardize the circumstances of people who entered France before the age of thirteen, those who have lived there permanently, and people who are the parents or spouses of French nationals.