ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses immigration policy developments in France and outlines the demographic and social composition of the immigrant population currently resident in the Republic. It reviews the participation of immigrants in the public life of the country. The chapter considers the French media debate on migration and the future challenges of immigration and immigrant integration for France. It presents the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of the immigrant population. The French law on foreigners regulates immigrants' right of residence on French territory. Many immigrant groups depend on special agreements with their countries of origin. The visibility of a generation with an immigrant background and possessing French nationality or dual citizenship status poses the question of social, cultural and political legitimacy in the French political order. Immigrants in France total about four million people, including the flows of clandestine people and those acquiring French nationality. The associative movement gave immigrants the possibility to exercise the political right to associate.
