ABSTRACT
Unlike other European states, France has a long history of immigration, dating back at least to the middle of the nineteenth century when industrialization began in earnest. In contrast with the United States - the other great republic also founded at the end of the eighteenth century - France was not a nation of immigrants. The consensus for an open immigration regime held until the early 1970s, when the trente glorieuses abruptly ended in 1973-74 with the first big recessions of the post-war period. The socialists decided to maintain tight (external) control of borders and stepped up (internal) control of the labour market to inhibit the development of a black market for undocumented workers. The rise of the Front National contributed heavily to a sense of crisis in French politics and public policy, with immigrants at the centre of the maelstrom.
