“Private and Family Life” in Times of Pandemic, Continuities and Breaks in a Discriminatory Policy: The Case of France

Abstract

This article examines the impact of measures to address COVID-19 on the right to family life in France. The shutdown of prefectural reception facilities, the freezing of visas for family reunification and the closure of international borders left families at an impasse. Some people already on French territory saw the hope of regularisation fade away, while others waiting for reunification witnessed the lengthening of the period of separation. With the adoption of a series of complex government measures, recourse to exceptional legal practices (i.e.: summary proceedings) became common and various forms of collective mobilisation emerged. An analysis of administrative immobilisation and of this collective mobilisation reveals increased inequality in terms of access to the law and the visibility of certain categories. These dynamics reflect the ongoing deterioration of the rights of foreign nationals, which predates the health crisis.