France Cracks Down on Illegal Immigrants
CACHAN, France — For dozens of illegal immigrant families, a gymnasium outside Paris has become a temporary home. They sleep shoulder-to-shoulder, their dingy mattresses piled high with necessities and small treasures: cooking pans, diapers, stuffed animals.
The families, mostly Africans, were evicted from France’s largest squat on Aug. 17. Riot police stormed the building _ an abandoned dormitory at a prestigious university _ and forced out more than 500 people. Nearly 30 illegal immigrants were put in detention centers. About 200 went to the cramped, dank gymnasium.
The mass eviction has become a symbol of France’s tougher new immigration policy, stoking the debate about how far the government can go to send a sign that illegals are not welcome.
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