(FRANCE AND ALGERIA) — France resumed forced deportations of Algerian nationals in early 2026, reopening a dispute with Algiers that now sits alongside tougher U.S. restrictions on Algerian migrants under measures adopted by DHS, USCIS and the State Department.

The deportation push has strained relations between Paris and Algiers after a near-total freeze in 2025. By May 2026, approximately 700 Algerians were being held in French administrative detention centers, known as CRA, awaiting repatriation, while Algerian consulates had processed roughly 140 consular transit permits since the start of 2026.

Washington has moved in the same period to tighten immigration processing for Algerian nationals. Under the Trump administration, the U.S. government tied immigration adjudication to national security assessments of what it called “high-risk” countries, including Algeria.

USCIS issued Policy Memorandum PM-602-0192 on December 2, 2025, directing officers to “Place a hold on. pending benefit requests for aliens from countries listed in Presidential Proclamation (PP) 10949,” which includes Algeria. The memo said, “USCIS has determined that a comprehensive re-review, potential interview, and re-interview of all aliens from high-risk countries of concern. is necessary. USCIS has weighed [adjudicative delays] against the urgent need for the agency to ensure that applicants are vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible.”

USCIS then expanded that policy on January 1, 2026, through Policy Memorandum PM-602-0194. The second memo widened the “hold and review” policy to additional nationalities and reinforced the indefinite freeze on benefit applications, including green cards and work permits, for Algerian nationals already in the United States.

The State Department added a separate layer on January 14, 2026, announcing a pause on immigrant visa processing for 75 countries, including Algeria, effective January 21, 2026. In its statement, the department said, “The Trump administration is bringing an end to the abuse of America’s immigration system by those who would extract wealth from the American people. Immigrant visa processing from these 75 countries will be paused while the State Department reassesses immigration processing procedures to prevent the entry of foreign nationals who would take welfare and public benefits.”

Those U.S. measures widened the pressure already building in France, where deportation of Algerian migrants has become tied to domestic politics and a long-running dispute over how readily Algeria accepts the return of its citizens. Paris resumed removals after French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez traveled to Algiers in February 2026.

French authorities had gone through months of deadlock before that trip. During the worst point of the 2025 crisis, Algerian consulates issued zero permits needed for removals, leaving detention and deportation procedures stalled.

By spring, the numbers had begun to move again, but only in a limited way. Nuñez reported “encouraging initial signs” of cooperation in April 2026, though the broader relationship still lacked a “complete breakthrough.”

Algeria’s cooperation on returns also carries weight in Washington. DHS continues to monitor Algeria under Section 243(d) of the INA, a provision that allows visa sanctions if a country denies or delays the return of its citizens.

That monitoring reflects a longer U.S. view of Algeria as a “recalcitrant” or “at-risk” country on deportation matters. It also places Algerian nationals inside a policy framework that reaches beyond France and into U.S. visa and benefit adjudications.

One of the most sensitive points in the France-Algeria dispute remains the 1968 Franco-Algerian Agreement, which grants Algerians unique residency and labor privileges in France. The French government has threatened to rescind it unilaterally or “strip the substance” from it if deportation cooperation is not fully restored.

Pressure on that accord has grown as far-right parties, including the National Rally, push for tighter controls. In France, the Rodwell Law of 2026 has been used to justify extended detention periods for Algerian nationals.

The diplomatic rupture has roots beyond migration policy. Relations deteriorated in July 2024, when France recognized Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara, a territory where Algeria backs the independence-seeking Polisario Front.

That dispute fed into a broader round of retaliation in 2025, when Algeria expelled several French diplomats and Paris answered with reciprocal expulsions. The migration file then became entangled with a wider contest over sovereignty, regional influence and domestic political messaging on both sides of the Mediterranean.

French enforcement efforts now land on a large and visible community. The Algerian diaspora in France numbers over 600,000, and reports indicate that even people with no criminal record are being targeted for Obligations to Leave French Territory, or OQTF, as authorities push to raise enforcement numbers.

That has sharpened fear inside families already living under administrative scrutiny. Community pressure has increased as detention, consular processing and removal orders move faster than they did during the freeze.

Across the Atlantic, Algerians in the United States face a different form of pressure. The hold on pending benefits and the pause in immigrant visa processing have left thousands in legal limbo, unable to secure status or work authorization while “enhanced vetting” continues.

The U.S. measures do not operate as a single deportation order, but they still shape the same migration chain. A person blocked from a visa abroad, or from a green card or work permit in the United States, faces a system that has stopped moving while security reviews remain open-ended.

France and the United States are not using identical legal tools, but the direction has converged. Both governments are prioritizing “security-first” and “remigration” policies, and Algeria has become an early test of how far those policies can go without breaking diplomatic ties altogether.

That alignment matters because France depends on Algerian cooperation to carry out removals, while the United States relies on the threat of visa sanctions and administrative holds. Each government is using immigration enforcement not only as domestic policy but also as leverage in bilateral relations.

French officials still need Algerian consulates to issue travel documents before many removals can proceed. U.S. officials, meanwhile, have folded Algeria into a larger architecture tied to [Presidential Proclamation 10949](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/06/10/2025-12543/restricting-the-entry-of-foreign-nationals) and internal screening reviews.

The American policy trail is visible through the [USCIS Newsroom](https://www.uscis.gov/newsroom), where the memoranda were issued, and through DHS removal policy carried out by [Enforcement and Removal Operations](https://www.ice.gov/ero). State Department actions affecting France and Algerian nationals also sit within its [France country page](https://www.state.gov/countries-areas/france/).

None of those official channels suggest the dispute is near a clean resolution. France has resumed deportations, but the number of permits issued, roughly 140 since the start of 2026, remains modest against the roughly 700 Algerians being held in detention as of May 2026.

Algeria has shown some cooperation, yet Paris still views that cooperation as partial and fragile. Washington has gone further by freezing benefits and visa processing, steps that place Algerian migrants under restrictions that do not carry a clear end date.

The result is a widening zone of uncertainty on both sides of the Atlantic. Algerian migrants face detention, delayed paperwork, paused visas and the constant possibility of deportation, while France and Algeria continue to test how much pressure their relationship can absorb before another breakdown begins.