Could France's riots happen here? Experts see parallels in socialism, immigration — and key differences

Violent riots sweeping France have exposed a far-left network of communist groups, labor unions and political activists mobilizing around student grievances, raising questions about whether similar political and immigration tensions could ignite unrest on American streets.

A Fox News Digital investigation identified 50 organizations involved in France's student protest movement and its broader network of supporters and international amplifiers, including communist and socialist groups, labor unions and political parties.

The American parallels extend beyond political rhetoric. Fox News Digital previously reported that agitators at Delaney Hall in Newark used encrypted Signal chats to coordinate transportation, supplies and demonstrations before clashes with federal agents.

Santiago Vidal Calvo, a researcher at the Manhattan Institute, singled out New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, arguing that their approaches to immigration enforcement could move the United States closer to conditions he associates with France's crisis.

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"I have absolutely no doubts that if we had Mamdanis or El-Sayeds or AOCs in charge of immigration policy, our immigration landscape would be very different today than what it currently is," Calvo told Fox News Digital.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has made a similar argument, explicitly tying France's violence to the stakes of the 2026 midterms.

"France is descending into chaos because they wanted OPEN BORDERS — just like the socialist Democrats in America," Johnson wrote on X. "What we are witnessing is a chilling warning for all Americans of what happens if the radical Marxist insurgent left gets their way."

Johnson argued that a Democratic victory in November would lead to more permissive immigration policies, casting the election as a choice between the Trump administration's immigration crackdown and the approach favored by Democrats. President Donald Trump similarly posted on Truth Social that "migrants have taken over France," urging the country to "CLOSE THE BORDERS, FAST!"

The immigration debate is also playing out directly in the 2026 midterms. In Michigan's closely watched Senate race, Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed has made abolishing ICE a campaign position, arguing that the agency cannot be reformed. His Republican opponent, Mike Rogers, has sought to portray El-Sayed as an ideological extremist as the two compete for a seat that could help determine control of the Senate.

In New York City, Mamdani signed a February executive order reinforcing sanctuary protections and restricting federal immigration enforcement on city property without a judicial warrant. Both Mamdani and El-Sayed frame their policies as safeguards against abusive enforcement, while critics warn they could weaken immigration controls.

The unrest began with students protesting conditions in France's education system before labor unions, political activists and groups with separate grievances joined the movement. Fox News Digital's investigation found that 15 of the 50 organizations identified in the broader network were student or youth groups.

Andrew Arthur, a former immigration judge and fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies, described a convergence of frustrations over school funding, rising costs, France's stagnant economy and longstanding tensions surrounding immigration and assimilation.

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"You've got the simple educational one which is partially economic, you've got the larger economic one and on top of that you have the assimilation issue," Arthur said.

But Arthur expressed skepticism that the United States would experience nationwide riots on the same scale, pointing to differences in immigration patterns and assimilation.

"Now can we see mass protests like this in the United States? I don't think so," Arthur said, noting that protests over urban ICE operations have not escalated into a comparable nationwide movement.

Nathalie Szerman, a Europe-based researcher with the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), pointed to another potential factor: The demonstrations intensified around the 65th anniversary of the Oct. 17, 1961, massacre of Algerian demonstrators by Paris police.

"October 17 is a very symbolic date for the Algerian-ethnic groups," Szerman told Fox News Digital, describing demonstrators memorializing a deadly 1961 crackdown by Paris police on Algerian demonstrators.

"The first protest groups were not ideologically aligned with 'political Islam' but were students from immigrant suburbs, driven by education concerns. Agenda-driven, organized 'Political Muslim' groups used the momentum of the protests for their own ends," Szerman said.

"It's a lot of things together, the resentment towards France and the political agenda," she said.

Alan Mendoza, executive director of the U.K.'s Henry Jackson Society — named for the late Washington Sen. Scoop Jackson — argued that the far-left movement led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon helped encourage broader mobilization ahead of France's next presidential election.

Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu blamed Mélenchon and his party for the unrest, according to Le Monde, while Mélenchon fired back after Lecornu demanded that LFI "choose a side" between France and the rioters — calling the either-or "detestable."

Mendoza warned that similar political tensions could surface in America, citing backlash against socialist New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani from anti-Israel activists who had previously supported him.

"What was interesting was the sight of him being turned on by the pro-Palestinian protesters the other day, when he was acknowledging October the 7th, the loss of human life on his radio site, he was turned on by the very hard left people who had helped propel him to power," Mendoza said.

"What that shows you is that it is very real a possibility at the hard left who are never satisfied and actually want chaos more than anything else," Mendoza added.

Arthur said France's far left can openly champion expansive immigration policies, while American Democrats face a different political reality: They cannot publicly embrace open borders without risking backlash, he argued, pointing to the Biden administration's tendency to portray illegal immigration as a problem it could not control rather than a policy it actively supported.

"Riot is to France what football is to the United States," said Arthur.

Szerman, however, said comparable unrest was possible despite differences between the two countries.

"I definitely think that what's happening in France could happen in the United States," she said, while noting that the more accommodating U.S. education system and different approach to immigrant integration could reduce the severity of any such violence, making a French-style nationwide crisis less likely.

Calvo, meanwhile, warned that adopting more expansive immigration policies without adequate screening and integration safeguards could create pressures similar to those he believes contributed to France's unrest.

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"France is in this mess because of the horrible policies they had in immigration over the last years," he said, warning that importing similar approaches could bring unrest to American communities.

Fox News Digital reached out to Mamdani, El-Sayed and Ocasio-Cortez for comment.

Fox News Digital's Ashely DiMella contributed to this report.