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The question of the balance of power between languages during periods of geopolitical transformation is important when individuals in situations of migration are asked to tell their story. We offer a sociolinguistic, postcolonial analysis of interviews conducted in the Netherlands between French-speaking newcomers and a Dutch interviewer. This reveals the unnoticed role that multilingual and translational strategies play in mediating identities through French. By interweaving historical and contemporary points of view, we see how the translinguistic space created in this context enables encounters, changes in relationships of domination, and the rehabilitation of identity. More generally, we question the role of the target language as a privileged means for achieving social inclusion. We argue that institutions should acknowledge language biographies and take them into account.