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Nicolas Sarkozy’s criticism of jus soli shows that a form of xenophobic speech stigmatizing parts of the population has now become « acceptable » in France. But one must remember that immigration in this country is a centuries-old phenomenon, and that it has always been steady and limited. Recent displacements of populations, resulting for instance from the Syrian conflict, mainly impact neighbouring countries. The issue of immigration is therefore used to hide the more pressing question of how to integrate the poor in our societies.