Judith and Vincent arrived directly from the Philippines 9 years ago, heading to Cannes. In 2005, their little girl, Véa, was born. Working as a housekeeper and cleaner for residents in Cannes, they have been applying for years to regularize their papers, but in vain. On July 28, 2009, the National Police raided the Cannes home of the family. The family was taken into custody and transferred to the Canet detention center. For 17 days, numerous associations, notably in the Alpes-Maritimes and in the Bouches-du-Rhône, fought for the family’s release. On the day before August 14—when the Santos family was due to be sent back to the Philippines—Christian Estrosi, Minister responsible for Industry and Mayor of Nice, requested Eric BESSON, Minister of Immigration, to “reconsider the situation of the SANTOS family for humanitarian reasons and in view of the urgency of the situation.” On the afternoon of August 14, the family left the Marseille detention center, heading back to Cannes, where the Santos were placed under house arrest.
After this struggle, Judith, Vincent, and little Véa were released. Back in their Cannes residence, the fight was far from over: they still had to fight for the acquisition of a residence permit. On September 2, the prefecture validated the file prepared by the family and the associations. The Santos are now free to move and work in France.
### A law to regularize undocumented immigrants…
In 2007, Brice Hortefeux, then Minister of Immigration, passed a law allowing employers to request the regularization of their employees for a period of 3 years. However, of the 182 jobs offered by the ministry, foreigners can only fill about thirty jobs. This reduces their chances of benefiting from regularization. The other 152 positions are reserved for European citizens. To date, there are 400,000 undocumented immigrants in France. A majority pay their taxes and contributions. However, not all are declared, and the government must take measures to force business leaders to regularize the status of undocumented immigrants.
