ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — A dispute over the fate of 60 Algerians that France hopes to deport has deepened a rupture between the countries that has approached a historic low over the past year.
Algeria's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday rejected a French list of Algerians “with a dangerous profile” set for deportation. It said the list from France's Interior Ministry bypassed traditional diplomatic channels for such expulsions and denied the Algerians their rightful trials.
The ministry statement rejected “threats and intimidation attempts, as well as injunctions, ultimatums, and any coercive language.”
France’s right-wing Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, who had previously threatened that France could terminate decades-old immigration and visa accords, on Tuesday pledged to retaliate in a post on X.
The list in question is the first time that France has publicly discussed compiling and transmitting names of those slated for expulsion. The names are a fraction of the Algerians that French authorities have previously said they've designated for deportation.
As conservative forces have risen in France in recent months, officials including Retailleau have pushed for stricter immigration controls, and the government has intensified its efforts to expel Algerians.
Data submitted to France's parliament last year showed less than 10% of French expulsion orders lead to actual deportations.
The Algerians set to be deported include a 37-year-old suspect sentenced to life for his role in an eastern France stabbing attack last month, and a trio of TikTok influencers found guilty of inciting violence against Jews, Morocco or opponents of Algeria’s government.
With economic difficulties and political dissatisfaction mounting in Algeria, the country's officials have leaned into disagreements with former colonizer France.
Algerian officials have maintained that their country's refusal to accept the deportees from France is related to concerns about due process.
Despite lingering tensions since Algeria wrested independence from France in a bloody war more than 60 years ago, the countries have cooperated on issues such as security, migration and trade.
But relations have deteriorated under French President Emmanuel Macron and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune.
Macron has accused Algeria’s military-led government of using “hatred of France” as a central governing principle. Last year Macron enraged Algeria by shifting France's position to back Morocco's plan for the disputed Western Sahara, offering the disputed territory limited autonomy rather than independence or the referendum on self-determination that Algeria and the pro-independence Polisario Front have long demanded.
France's shift in position sent relations between Paris and Algiers into a downward spiral and in the nearly eight months since the barbs traded between the two countries have encompassed a range of subjects including trade restrictions, the treatment of imprisoned French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal and historic grievances, including about the legacy of France’s nuclear program in Algeria.
French politicians — including conservatives who joined Macron’s government last year — have accused Algeria of trying to “humiliate” France and threatened to revoke the special status that Algerians who wish to emigrate or work in France have enjoyed. This week, they called to recall France’s ambassador in Algiers and terminate visas for Algerian diplomats.
FILE - French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau leaves the weekly cabinet meeting, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025 at the Elysee Palace in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, File)
The tip of Michigan's mitten struggled through another day without electricity Tuesday as restless residents tried to stay warm while utilities scrambled to restore power in a region waylaid by weekend freezing rain that brought down countless trees and poles.
Schools in several counties were closed again at the top of the Lower Peninsula. Sheriff's deputies armed with chain saws cleared roads and were even delivering oxygen for the homebound. Drivers idled their vehicles in gas station lines that were blocks long.
Northern Michigan lives with crazy weather — Gaylord got 199 inches (5 meters) of snow this winter — but this wave is much different.
“It's an ice situation. The trees and power lines are loaded, literally,” Charlevoix County Sheriff Chuck Vondra said. "Everything is caving in."
More than 170,000 power outages were reported statewide Tuesday night in Michigan, according to poweroutage.us, down from 300,000-plus earlier in the week. But in some areas, entire communities have been without electricity since Saturday.
The Cheboygan County sheriff said residents should consider leaving town if they have another place to stay. Running on generators, Petoskey City Hall and part of Odawa Casino were turned into 24-hour havens for people to warm up and charge phones. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said she was sending the Michigan National Guard to help with restoration efforts.
“The challenge is the debris, impassable roads, and hundreds of downed poles. Each pole takes hours to replace,” said Presque Isle Electric & Gas Co-op, one of many utilities in the region
Petra Tank, 32, of Petoskey said she finally decided to drive 25 miles (40 kilometers) to a friend's home for warmth and a shower Monday.
“I realized, ‘Oh, this is a big deal. We’re not going to be back at work this week,’” said Tank, who has a tailor shop.
“We've been sitting ducks for three days without power, and the morale is officially starting to lower because our homes are only getting colder. … It's just kind of free-for-all,” she told The Associated Press.
The Alpena News in Alpena couldn't publish a newspaper Monday or Tuesday, but it planned to finally have a print edition Wednesday. Managing Editor Torianna Marasco said she posted stories online by traveling outside the area for internet access.
The Mackinac Bridge, a 5-mile (8-kilometer) span connecting Michigan’s two peninsulas, has been closed at times because of thick ice falling from towers and cables.
A relief agency, Convoy of Hope, was loading trucks with food and water for a trip to northern Michigan, said Mike Way, pastor of Center Point Assembly church in Charlevoix.
“Everybody right now is on pins and needles. It's my understanding that more snow and ice are coming," Way said. ”We're not out of the woods yet."
The staff at Tom's Family Market in Onaway used flashlights to help desperate customers find food in a pinch.
“Don’t tell the governor," owner Bryan Madison told The Detroit News, "but we ain’t collecting tax.”
Associated Press writer Tammy Webber contributed to this report.
Piper Kuzel, 5, watches her father, Jesse Kuzel of Charlevoix, Mich., fill gas containers at the Ellsworth Farmers Exchange Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Ellsworth, Mich., as his family has been using heat from their home's natural gas stove to keep warm with power outages widespread following the ice storm. (Jan-Michael Stump/Traverse City Record-Eagle via AP)
Sgt. Mitch Wallin of the Emmet County Sheriff's Department walks past ice-coated trees as he and Sgt. Tyler Midyett, not pictured, clear branches from along Eppler Road in Petoskey, Mich, Tuesday, April 1, 2025, as cleanup from the weekend's ice storm continues. (Jan-Michael Stump/Traverse City Record-Eagle via AP)
A crew from 5H Irrigation and Maintenance clears downed limbs from yards in Petoskey, Mich., Tuesday, April 1, 2025, as clean up from the weekend's ice storms continues across northern lower Michigan. (Jan-Michael Stump/Traverse City Record-Eagle via AP)
An Antrim County Road Commission crew clears branches and trees hanging near Atwood Road from ice build up Tuesday, April 1, 2025, near Ellsworth, Mich., following weekend storms that deposited as much as one inch of ice over areas of northern lower Michigan. (Jan-Michael Stump/Traverse City Record-Eagle via AP)
Sgt. Tyler Midyett of the Emmet County Sheriff's Department works along with Sgt. Mitch Wallin, not pictured, to clear fallen trees from along Eppler Road in Petoskey, Mich., Tuesday, April 1, 2025, as cleanup from the weekend's ice storm continues. (Jan-Michael Stump/Traverse City Record-Eagle via AP)
Debris and ice-covered trees cover Curtisville Road that turns into Ausable Valley River Road in Oscoda County, Mich. on Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (Kaytie Boomer /The Bay City Times via AP)
This aerial view shows ice-covered trees off of Eggleston Road and Curtisville Road in Oscoda County, Mich. on Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (Kaytie Boomer /The Bay City Times via AP)
This aerial view shows ice-covered trees off of Eggleston Road and Curtisville Road in Oscoda County, Mich. on Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (Kaytie Boomer /The Bay City Times via AP)
Debris and ice-covered trees cover Curtisville Road that turns into Ausable Valley River Road in Oscoda County, Mich. on Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (Kaytie Boomer /The Bay City Times via AP)
