They are not.
Under both circumstances cheap labor is/was being imported at a rate that can't/couldn't accommodated cultural assimilation. In both cases little attempt was/is being made to mainstream the immigrants beyond a primary "public" education. In both cases immigrants were/are being forced into cultural ghettos. In both cases these cultural ghettos are producing institutionalized public misbehavior and a mistrust of public authority.
There are numerous examples of these parallels. Hopefully the US will learn from France's experiences and adjust our public policies before we suffer the same fate.
Which is it?
Do you believe that Mexican immigrants will be rioting in the streets en masse setting cars afire any time soon (having lived in squalor based on their race and culture for years)? Or not?
Is the United States the same as France in any way, shape, or form? Or not?
"... little attempt was/is being made to mainstream the immigrants beyond a primary "public" education ... "
Someone told me recently that that's not the case! They said one major problem in France is that the immigrant populations are allowed to have their own, separate "public" schools, in their own ghettos.