Monday's vote concerned a proposal from the European Commission on updated rules for deportations.
Here, the members of the European Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties and Rights chose a significantly tougher line than that drawn up by the responsible negotiator, Dutch liberal Malik Azmani.
Instead, the parliament's traditional right-wing group, the Christian democratic conservative EPP, teamed up with the three far-right groups ECR, PFE and ESN to push through their view on the matter.
"Today, only one in five returns, which is an unsustainable situation. That is why we need to get these strengthened rules in place," says Swedish EPP member Tomas Tobé (M) in a statement via text message.
Next up are compromise negotiations with the Council of Ministers.
