Nearly 75,000 people took to the streets in various French cities to protest President Macron’s new immigration law, which they consider to be too strict. About 16,000 activists demonstrated in the capital, Paris, according to estimates by the Ministry of the Interior. The leftist union CGT, which was involved in organizing the protests, estimates about 150,000 demonstrators across the country.

According to activists, the president leans toward the far right in supporting the law, and thus he is betraying French values. The demonstrations were organized by about 200 organizations, such as trade unions, cultural institutions and immigrant advocacy groups.

The law, which has already been passed by Parliament but has not yet been signed by Macron, is supposed to make it easier for the government to deport “undesirable” foreigners from France. In addition, it has become more difficult for migrants to bring family members or partners to France, or to apply for social housing or benefits.

Macron recently tightened the law under pressure from the right-wing Republican Party. It is generally assumed that he is trying to take the wind out of the sails of the far-right National Rally party in the run-up to the European elections in June. The National Front (formerly the National Front), led by party leader Marine Le Pen, has performed well in opinion polls for months.

Street protests were organized today in the period leading up to the Constitutional Council’s ruling next Thursday. This must determine whether the law as a whole is consistent with the French Constitution. Remarkably, Macron himself has already said that he expects parts of the law to be discriminatory and constitutionally unacceptable.