France's minister of immigration says the country is reversing the tide of illegal immigration, AP reported.
Brice Hortefeux says that "for the first time in a generation" the number of illegal immigrants in France has begun to decrease.
Hortefeux estimates that between 200,000 and 400,000 illegal immigrants are living in France.
But he said Sunday in an interview on LCI television that the numbers have dropped some 6 percent. He did not specify a time period for the alleged decrease in illegal immigrants.
Hortefeux is France's first immigration minister. To stem the flow of illegal immigrants to France he has set expulsion quotas that have drawn criticism from many quarters.
Hortefeux says this year's quota of 26,000 is "totally achievable."