The French effort to curb illegal immigration, which began in earnest in the mid-1970s, had become increasingly subsumed under a broader campaign to prevent and punish illegal employment by the early 1990s. Illegal alien employment remains a significant concern, but most illegal work involves French citizens. Over the past two decades, France has fine-tuned and reinforced a panoply of laws punishing illegal employment, but socioeconomic trends have tended to exacerbate it. Nonetheless, the government's ability to punish and deter illegal work, including illegal alien employment, is more considerable and credible today than it was two decades ago.
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References
1.
1. For an English-language translation and summary of these reports, see French Ministry of Social Affairs, “The Employment Market and Immigrants in an Irregular Situation: Lessons from the Recent Legalization Exercise in France,”International Migration Review, 18(3): 558-578 (Fall 1984).
2.
2. See La lutte contre les trafics de maind'oeuvre en 1986-1987: Rapport au Ministre du travail, de l'emploi et de la formation professionelle (Paris: La Documentation Française, 1988).
