Bardella-Farage immigration deal faces backlash across French political spectrum – POLITICO

PARIS — French presidential candidates from the far left to the far right are blasting the memorandum of understanding on stopping migration across the English Channel that National Rally President Jordan Bardella signed with Reform U.K.’s Nigel Farage on Friday.

Critics of the deal, which says in English that France “will ordinarily accept” migrants intercepted in the English Channel and sent back to French shores, accused the far-right MEP of attempting to cede French sovereignty on immigration matters. The pact only goes into effect if Reform UK and the National Rally take power in the United Kingdom and France, respectively.

On X, Xavier Bertrand, the conservative president of the Hauts-de-France region that includes some of the most well-known launch points for the so-called “small boats” trying to reach the U.K. from France, accused Bardella of “bowing down” to Farage and wanting to make France the U.K.’s “subcontractor” on border enforcement.