It's not just us!

On Thursday, following a delay deliberately undertaken by the president of France’s supreme audit institution, a report was released that is damning to the costs of France's open-border policies and the waves of illegal immigration resulting from those policies.

Published on Thursday, January 4th, the report is a harsh indictment of government policy, in particular the actions of Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, who boasts of having taken a tough stance on managing illegal immigrants. Darmanin claims to have introduced an effective policy for expelling illegal immigrants and says the expulsion rate of delinquent foreigners is up by 30%. 

The first president of the Court, former socialist minister Pierre Moscovici, would normally have published the report in question on December 13th—two days after the vote on the motion to reject the first version of the immigration law—but preferred to remain temporarily silent on a document that is damning for the government. He defended himself by explaining that he did not want “this publication to interfere in any way with the political debate.”

One would think that this is precisely the kind of information the public needs to carry out a fully informed political debate. Mssr. Moscovici is seriously remiss in delaying the release of this information; a government should be clear and transparent with the citizenry, and in this, an agent of the French government is deliberately withholding information.

Sound familiar?

Border management is judged to be catastrophic, with identity checks virtually never carried out, and no information being seriously collected. 

The administrations and courts responsible for deportations are totally saturated, as the number of orders to leave France (Obligation de Quitter le Territoire Français, or OQTF) issued has actually risen by 60% over the last five years, while the number of staff responsible for dealing with them has only increased by 9%. OQTFs are often contested and the administrative courts are unable to manage the cases properly due to a lack of staff and resources. 

Another major shortcoming is that deportation orders are issued but not enforced. The debates of the last few months have widely circulated the critical figure of only 10% enforcement of the famous OQTFs, which is now well known to the French public.

To put a point on it, the French borders are wide open, enforcement of immigration laws is non-existent, the French immigration courts are overwhelmed, and deportation orders are not enforced.

Sound familiar?

The most important figure to take away from this voluminous report is that of the total cost of illegal immigration to France: €1.8 billion per year, essentially borne by the Ministry of the Interior. This staggering figure undermines an argument frequently put forward by the Left, namely that immigration has ‘enriched’ the country. And the Court report only looks at the cost of illegal immigration.

That's almost two billion American dollars. Every year. And, as noted, this only counts illegal immigration. It's tempting to ask here as well, "Sound familiar?" But here in the United States, taxpayers should be delighted with a figure as low as what the French taxpayers are being soaked for; here, the tally of the cost of uncontrolled, illegal immigration is around $150 billion.

See Related: WATCH: Illegal Immigrants Cross Right in Front of Speaker Johnson's Border Speech 

Greg Abbott Slams Eric Adams Over Laughable Lawsuit, Uses Left's Standards Against Them 

The report from France is mute on the "asylum-seeker" issue, but it's probably safe to assume that in France (indeed in all of Europe) as it is here, the people swarming into those countries, like the people swarming into the United States, are well-informed on precisely what "asylum-seeker" phrases they should utter to ensure they are let in without question. 

Note that most people, including most on the conservative and libertarian end of the spectrum, have little or no issue with legal immigration. People who come to the United States, or France, or anywhere with something to contribute, be that skills, resources, capital, or talent, generally are and should be welcomed. But there's no reason not to be selective in who we let into the United States - or who the French let into France - and people, frankly, with nothing to contribute except a willingness to have their very first act be breaking the law, well, those people should be handed a one-way bus ticket right back across the border.

The Western world is being overwhelmed, and most of the governments of the Western nations are aiding and abetting in the process. On this issue as well as many others, the Biden Administration has been an utter failure. Illegal immigration, make no mistake, will be a major issue in the 2024 Presidential election. It may be the issue of the 2024 election.