Socialist MP Colette Capdevielle once warned that “the administrative machine itself produces precarity; we are creating undocumented people.” That same “machine” is now doing something far worse.
“French for 25 years, expelled in 48 hours: the staggering story of a mother at Roissy” — this is the title of a video that has sparked widespread outrage.
“A Franco-Algerian mother who has lived in France since 1993 had her nationality withdrawn and was served with an order to leave French territory within a matter of hours as she was preparing to visit her family. An incomprehensible decision denounced by her lawyer, who warns of a serious administrative drift.”
The details of the case:
“This story is unbelievable and should serve as a warning, among others, to all those who hold dual nationality. Imagine this: you have been French for more than 25 years, you also hold Algerian nationality, you have worked in France, started a family in France, raised your children in France — in short, you have contributed to French society.
And then, overnight, without any proven reason, the French administration decides to strip you of your French nationality and your French identity documents, issues you with an obligation to leave French territory (OQTF), and bans you from returning to France for one year (IRTF). That is exactly what happened to this 58-year-old Franco-Algerian mother on June 2, during a border police check at Roissy–Charles de Gaulle Airport.
The case was reported by Le Monde and relayed by her lawyer, Maître Samy Djemaoun, who denounces a grave injustice. This mother obtained French nationality in 1997 and built her entire life around it: a French husband, French children, and stable employment. She also traveled regularly between France and Algeria, where part of her family still lives.
But on June 2, as she arrived at Roissy–Charles de Gaulle Airport to travel to Algeria, border police confiscated all her French documents — her national identity card and her passport — and told her: ‘You are no longer French, madam.’ She was served with an OQTF accompanied by a one-year re-entry ban.
Contrary to standard procedure, according to her lawyer, she was not granted the statutory 30-day period to leave the country, but only 48 hours. The key question now is: what grounds did the administration invoke to withdraw this woman’s French nationality? There were two.
First, the prefecture claimed that she could not prove ‘effective and permanent’ residence in France. This argument is contradicted by factual evidence cited by her lawyer: continuous residence in France for more than 30 years; official documents (a French passport and national identity card renewed multiple times); and a family, professional, and social life entirely rooted in France.
The second ground concerns an administrative error dating back to 2001, involving an alleged irregularity in her mother’s civil status (…) What is most troubling, however, is that no action was taken for 24 years. The State consistently regarded her as fully French — until June 2, 2025.”
Maître Djemaoun wrote on X: “This is not a mistake. It is state violence. A collapse of the rule of law. A profound and devastating psychological violence inflicted on my client. The State no longer cares about the law. It acts, expels, crushes — even when the law says no.”
The case echoes the revocation of an Uzbek national’s status in December 2023. At the time, then Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin (now Minister of Justice) insisted on his expulsion based on a mere presumption of radicalization. The procedure was upheld despite being invalidated by both the Conseil d’État and the European Court of Human Rights.
There is also the case of an Algerian man classified as a “dangerous individual” and expelled from French territory in November 2023 for stealing a bottle of wine. Indeed, it can happen that the State “acts, expels, crushes — even when the law says no.”
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