Brice Hortefeux
Brice Hortefeux (born 11 May 1958 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine but was raised in Auvergne) is a French politician and Minister for Labour, Labour Relations, the Family, Solidarity and Urban Affairs. He was previously Minister-Delegate for Local Government at the Ministry of the Interior and was a Member of the European Parliament for central France.
Overview
Brice Hortefeux is one of the most loyal political allies, and personal friend, of French politician Nicolas Sarkozy.
On 18 May 2007, he was appointed as the first Minister of Immigration, Integration, National Identity and Cooperative Development in the government of Prime Minister François Fillon. As such he has boosted the numbers of illegal immigrants forcibly repatriated from France, extended the network of detention centres (established also outside the larger conurbations in smaller cities such as Blois) and modified the rights of individuals and organizations which visit them.
Brice Hortefeux mentioned Sciences Po in the old version of his official CV in a way that may have falsely implied that he obtained a degree there .
Views
He is in favor of conservative views on immigration. He was the promoter of a law that toughens conditions of political asylum in France, toughens the ability for immigrants to have their family live with them in France, and elarged the scope of immigrant deportations. Under his tenure as Minsiter for Immigration, the number of illegal aliens expelled out of the country increased to 26 000 per year.
He believes that France has a right to expel or welcome immigrants on a discretionary basis, citing as evidence the high unemployement and criminality rates of foreigners. He also points to the geographical concentration of foreigners in a small amount of towns as evidence that they are not integrated in the country. As he declared on the right-wing and populous newspaper Le Parisien on the 8th of November 2007:
« France has the right to choose which immigrants it can accommodate.» [...] « Let's muster the courage to face our problems! Do you find it normal that 60% of immigrants are concentrated in only 3 of our 22 regions ? That the unemployment rate of these people is 22% and that their children are dropping out of school ? No, we will not accept this. " .
For comparison purposes, the three regions cited (Île-de-France, Rhône-Alpes, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur) are home to more than 35% of France's population.
He has toughened the enforcement of laws that were previously unenforced, like the solidarity offense, which makes it any act of help or aid to an illegal criminal a criminal offense. In May 2009, a 24 year old woman living in Dijon is on trial for having dated an illegal immigrant. She faces up to 5 years in prison and a 30 000 Euro fine.
Views
On the national French radio BFM, on November 5th 2008, he declared :
"Barack Obama's election is symbolic because everyone knows he is from a family of immigrants."
He used this fact as an argument that, even though immigrant's children fare less well on average than French-born children, there are signs of hope for them. He was unaware that Barack Obama's mother is American and that Barack's father, a Kenyan, left the household when his son was two years old.
On M6's TV show Capital he implied that illegal immigrants were in general filthy and dishonest people. When asked if there were illegal immigrants in France, he replied: "A country where there are only honest and clean citizens is a dream [...] In reality, it's a constant struggle."
Career
* Degree in private law (1982)
* Master's degree in public law (1984)
* Studied in Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po)
* Local authority administrator (1986-1994)
* Prefect, given responsibility for a government public service mission (1995)
* Special adviser in the office of the President of the Senate (1998-1999)
* Head of office of the Minister for the Budget and Communications and government spokesman (1993-1995)
Governmental functions
Minister of Labor, Family and Social Affairs, Solidarity and the City : Since 2009
Minister for Immigration, Integration, National Identity and Development Solidarity : 2007-2009
Minister of Territorial collectivities : 2005-2007
Electoral mandates
Member of European Parliament : 1999-2005 (Became minister in 2005)
Regional councillor of Auvergne (region) : Since 1992
Brice Hortefeux in the European institutions
He is a member of the Union for a Popular Movement, which is part of the European People's Party. During his time at the European Parliament, he sat on the European Parliament's Committee on International Trade, was a substitute for the Committee on Budgets and was a member of the delegation for relations with the Maghreb countries and the Arab Maghreb Union.
|
Connect with Facebook