This dissertation argues that there has been a shift in emphasis in contemporary France from a regime of systematicity and justice, grounded in the rule of law, to a narrower ethics of exceptionality and benevolence, based on a politics of humanitarianism and compassion. I examine this shift from the angle of those most impacted by the failure of the rule of law - immigrants, particularly undocumented immigrants - or those called "les sans papiers" in France. Based on ethnographic field research in Paris from 1999-2001 with undocumented immigrants, activist groups, lawyers, immigration officials, nurses, doctors and social workers, this dissertation documents how, as one example of this shift, illness has become a primary means by which to stay in France legally. It demonstrates how this emergent ethics has turned the politics of immigration into a politics of life and death, where one must barter one's suffering for inclusion in the concept of humanity.