President Nicolas Sarkozy: Mohamed Merah

Immigration Policy Dept: Early in the campaign it looked like unpopular President Nicolas Sarkozy might actually make up ground against his rising, but bland and technocratic Socialist opponent, Fran ois Hollande. But when Hollande proposed a 75 per cent income tax on millionaires, all eyes turned toward the Socialists and Hollande s numbers began to rise in the polls. Then, however, the tragic events in Toulouse put immigration policy, always a hot-button issue in France, near the top of the agenda, according to The Star. Nor did Le Pen disappoint her followers, advocating a complete halt to immigration and by this she really means Muslim immigration outside the European Union, and asking, How many Mohamed Merahs are there in the boats and airplanes that come to France every day filled with immigrants? How many Mohamed Merahs are there among the children of immigrants who have not assimilated and as the April 22 date for the first round of the French presidential election approaches, every day seems to bring a new twist to the proceedings. With Sarkozy calling for a 50 per cent reduction in immigration and proposing French withdrawal from the Schengen accord and its open borders provisions, poll numbers now showed him running neck-and-neck with Hollande. The fact that Mohamed Merah, the Toulouse killer, was a Muslim was also expected to fuel rising support for Marine Le Pen, the leader of the far right National Front. After all, the Front had been associated for years with a tough immigration policy and anti-Muslim sentiment. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.