Moroccan man raised in France faces deportation at 20 despite judge’s ruling
A young Moroccan who arrived in France at 3 and was raised by a French woman faced being sent back to a country where he says he has no ties. A judge in Toulouse ordered his release after finding several errors by the prefecture.
“I don’t even speak their language.” At his hearing, the young Moroccan describes the country he left as a child. Taken in by a French woman under a kafala arrangement, he has lived with her since arriving in 2009 and completed all his schooling in France.
In 2025, he earned a vocational baccalaureate in industrial maintenance. He has also worked in equestrian sports and was preparing for a work-study program starting in the 2026 academic year. But his residence permit expires on May 8, while renewal procedures are underway. His career plans have been put on hold.
On October 2, after being held in police custody over the alleged theft of his mother’s car and driving without a license, the prefect of Var ordered him to leave France immediately and imposed a two-year ban on returning. He was placed in administrative detention.
The prefecture had dismissed his entire history
The administration then requested an additional 26 days of detention. In response, the young man submitted his school certificates, diploma, kafala order and documents establishing his family life. His background was already detailed in the hearing record available to the prefecture.
In its ruling of October 7, 2026, the Toulouse judicial court noted that the prefectural order ignored this essential information. It also cited criminal convictions that the judge described as “completely erroneous”: the man had no prior record with the courts.
The judge found a manifest error of assessment, ruled his detention unlawful, rejected the request for 26 more days and ordered his release. The deportation order is the subject of a separate appeal, on which a decision from the administrative court was expected on October 8.
