The new legislation includes changes to residency and citizenship that have won support from the far right.

The French parliament has overwhelmingly passed an immigration law backed by President Emmanuel Macron after a rebellion within his party against the tougher legislation that had secured the support of the far right.

The bill had been significantly tightened since its introduction, with some on the left of Macron’s ruling Renaissance Party accusing his government of caving in to Marine Le Pen’s far-right Rassemblement National (RN) to secure support.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, an ambitious 41-year-old who pushed the legislation, expressed relief that the votes of his coalition and the Conservatives were enough to get the bill through parliament.

Some 349 members voted in favor, 186 against. The upper house had already passed the law.

“Strict measures are necessary today,” Darmanin said afterwards. “You cannot solve the problems of the French in the rest of the country by holding your nose in the center of Paris.”

An earlier version of the bill was rejected without even being debated in the National Assembly – a major blow for Macron.

Under pressure from the right, the government agreed to relax residence permits and at the same time delayed migrants’ access to social benefits – including for children and housing – for several years.

The changes also introduce immigration quotas, make it harder for the children of migrants to become French and stipulate that dual nationals convicted of serious crimes against police could have their French nationality revoked.

Le Pen had said the RN would support the amended law – causing embarrassment to more left-wing members of Macron’s party, who are uncomfortable voting in line with the far right.

In the end, 20 Renaissance members voted against the bill, 17 abstained and 131 voted for it.

After the vote, Le Pen claimed an “ideological victory.”

The French have long been proud of having one of the most generous social systems in the world, which extends payments to foreigners and helps them pay rent or look after their children with needs-based monthly contributions of up to a few hundred euros.

The far right, and more recently the conservatives, have argued that these should only be reserved for the French.

Macron had made the migration law a key element of his second term and might have had to shelve it without the compromise.

Dozens of NGOs condemned the law ahead of the vote.

It is “the most regressive bill in the last 40 years for the rights and living conditions of foreigners, including those who have been residing in France for a long time,” some 50 groups, including the French Human Rights League, said in a joint statement.

“With this text, directly inspired by RN anti-immigration pamphlets, we are facing a change in the history of the Republic and its fundamental values,” said Fabien Roussel, leader of the French Communist Party.