Thousands of people were marching in the streets near Montparnasse train station in southern Paris on a recent Sunday afternoon, reports Deutsche Welle.
They were holding signs proclaiming their opposition to the "Darmanin law," named after France's interior minister. Other placards said "Immigration is not a problem ― racism is."
Right at the front of the group, a megaphone in hand, was Ahmada Siby.
The 33-year-old Malian arrived in France almost five years ago. Benefiting from a legal loophole, he has been using other people's papers to work as a cleaner, a chambermaid and, lately, a dishwasher.
"Most of us undocumented immigrants are using this method, but it means we are paying social insurance fees and taxes without benefitting from services such as regular public healthcare like French citizens," he told DW.
"President Emmanuel Macron's government treats us as if we were nothing, although we're doing all the dirty work ― at construction sites, including the ones for the Paris Olympics next summer, in restaurants and as cleaners," he added.
That's why Siby and others have banded together to protest the bill, which France's government said is a compromise including left-wing and right-wing measures.
The draft law is set to be discussed in the National Assembly, France's lower house of parliament, starting on Monday, December 11, 2023, and could enter into force early next year.