“Do not come to France. We will tolerate nothing. It’s zero tolerance.” French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau delivered these tough words before the microphones of TV and radio media gathered in Paris’s Gare du Nord train station on Thursday, June 19, to relay the message of a major nationwide identity check. Spanning June 18 and 19 and redundantly dubbed a “fight against irregular and illegal immigration,” the operation reportedly mobilized no fewer than 4,000 police officers, gendarmes, customs officers and soldiers deployed as part of antiterrorist military operation Sentinelle, all with the aim of detaining undocumented migrants aboard trains and in and around train stations. The deployment was not far from the 5,400 personnel mobilized to contain potential disorder during the Champions League soccer final in Paris on May 31.
Results of the operation were not available as of Thursday evening. In a document sent to state prefectures on June 12 seen by Le Monde, the interior ministry said some 900 buses had been inspected and 759 undocumented foreigners were detained during a smaller-scale identity check on low-cost international bus lines around the country on May 20 and 21. In the document, Retailleau said these were “significant results.” Asked about what happened after the arrests, the ministry said officials had issued 245 deportation orders, 34 placements in detention centers and 72 readmissions.
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