Nations are out of humane touch. France wants Immigrants entering by professional reasons but not for Humanitarian or searching for a better life.


Apparently they forgot the Freedom, Democracy and rights for Individuals. I am hoping that France remembered the legacy of FREDERIC AUGUSTE BARTHOLDI.

PARIS – France's first immigration minister claimed success Thursday for his no-nonsense policy on illegal immigration, saying the number of expulsions increased 80 percent this year while the number of people living illegally went down.

Brice Hortefeux said he expected the Europe Union to follow France's example and adopt an immigration pact to coordinate policies when France assumes the rotating presidency July 1. He said the pact would include an accord among the 27-member body not to undertake a mass legalization of migrants.

On Wednesday, the EU parliament adopted new rules for expelling illegal immigrants. However, the measures do not address issues like asylum, prevention or tackling problems at the source – all encompassed in the French pact.
Hortefeux, among the most controversial members of the government, insisted that Europe largely shares French concerns over illegal immigration.

France seeks to choose its immigrants with an emphasis on those with skills and visas enabling them to work. Their ranks were up by 36.7 percent over the past year, Hortefeux said at a news conference marking his first year on the job. France wants half of its immigrants to be entering for professional reasons by 2012.

He said France expelled 80 percent more illegal immigrants in the first five months of 2008, compared with the same period last year. From June 2007 to May 2008 it expelled 29,729 illegal aliens.

The number of voluntary departures was up 374 percent over the past year, and 38 percent so far in 2008, Hortefeux said, suggesting that immigrants living in France without papers “now understand our rules.”

“France is managing to calmly master this migratory flux,” he said.

Overall, he estimated there are 8 percent fewer illegal aliens in France today than before he took office. Officials say there are 200,000 to 400,000 people living in France illegally.

Hortefeux was optimistic about the EU's adoption of a French-proposed immigration pact, saying it could happen as early as October – halfway into the French presidency.

Hortefeux's ministry also aims to preserve the French national identity and to attack the migratory flux in countries that are the source of illegal immigration. France has signed development pacts with five African countries this year – Tunisia, Senegal, Benin, Gabon and the Republic of Congo.

Deportation of parent leaves family on pain.




Eleven-year-old Fanta Fofana spoke barely above a whisper as she described the day immigration officers burst into her Bronx apartment and took her dad.
"I was sleeping with my sisters and my cousins," Fanta said, her eyes downcast. "The police came and took my father away from my family. I was born here and I can't believe my country would do this to me."
Fanta said she has spoken to her dad, Senegalese national Sory Fofana, 47, many times since his deportation last November. He tells her not to worry and that he'll come back soon, she said.
But after an immigration court determined that Fofana improperly overstayed his visa, in violation of a prior order to leave the country in 1998, that seems unlikely, immigration officials said.
Now, Fanta and her five younger siblings pray that their undocumented immigrant mother isn't the next to go - stripping them of both their parents.
They've been getting help from the New Sanctuary Movement (www.newsanctuarymovement.org), a local multifaith advocacy group working to keep undocumented immigrant parents and their U.S. citizen kids together.
The year-old group has 22 participating congregations across the city, including those from Christian, Muslim and Jewish faiths, organizers said.
The group provides material, spiritual and legal support. It runs a food pantry and holds English classes to help immigrants get the skills needed to survive in this country, organizers said.
Advocates are also pushing to reform immigration laws to let judges consider the needs of U.S.-born children when determining the fate of undocumented parents. One such bill, the Child Citizen Protection Act, was introduced by Rep. José Serrano (D-Bronx) in February.
"We shouldn't be in the business of separating families," said Shaykh Bashir, of the House of Peace in Harlem, part of the New Sanctuary Movement. "The idea of [the children] going to foster care ... is unconscionable."
Bashir said he's not pushing for blanket amnesty. "If a person's a criminal, I don't want them here," he said.
But he believes parents working here to support their citizen children deserve some leeway.
Fanta's mother, who has lived here for more than a decade, agreed.
"I want to stay with my children. They need me. I need them," said Fatoumata, 31, who asked that only her first name be used. "There are no children who deserve to be without [their] father or mother