France Interior Minister Signals Rightward Shift

I've written before on how countries will be introducing changes to their naturalization tests moving forward. Today, France's new interior minister signaled a rightwards shift in immigration policy that didn't mention naturalization or assimilation at all.

I like tracking this particular test because it indicates where a government lands on the assimilation versus alienation axis. If a country just espouses deportation, more "tough on crime" policies, etc., without also supporting language acquisition for immigrant children, affordable housing, and migrant-friendly labor laws -- then it's somewhat easy to read between the lines.

These countries will seek to punish and deter immigration rather than support and integrate newcomers. Of course, there is a spectrum to all of this, and immigration surplus countries will likely enforce a blend of new restrictions that make it both harder to arrive and harder to stay. But the naturalization test, language proficiency tests, etc. are a great litmus for where these governments will be focusing over time.