Living in the shadows: When Brits are made illegal
By Fiona Bawdon
From December, private landlords in Birmingham and the Black Country could face a £3,000 fine if they fail to check the immigration status of new tenants, as changes introduced by the 2014 Immigration Act begin to be phased in.
The reform is the latest in a series of changes by successive governments aimed at making life all but unlivable for anyone in the UK illegally. Speaking on Today last year, home secretary Theresa May said she wants to make Britain a "hostile environment" for illegal immigrants. The Act also introduces status checks by the DVLA, banks and the NHS.
May's comments, and pretty much the entire immigration debate, are based on the assumption that those "who have no right to be in the UK" are a distinct and dodgy group, most likely up to no good, going around accessing public services to which they're not entitled, and – above all – different from the rest of us law-abiding folk. As the Economist wrote recently: "Though a few will have driving licenses and bank accounts acquired legally, illegal immigrants of all sorts tend to live outside formal society, which makes it difficult for the government to reach them through tough laws."
What this kind of thinking fails to realise is that, as well as those who truly (and knowingly) have no legal right to be in the UK, there is also another group, who can't readily prove their immigration status, not because they have done anything illegal but because of lost documents or poor government record-keeping.
Far from being difficult for the government to reach, they are being driven to destitution by legislation aimed at cracking down on illegal migrants. Far from living 'outside formal society', they are often at the heart of it: friends, neighbours, workmates, and valued, long-standing members of our communities.
A recently published study by the Legal Action Group – 'Chasing Status – If not British, then what am I?' – highlighted the plight of people with irregular immigration status, the six oldest had been in the UK a total of 260 years. Their ages ranged from 53-60. All entered the UK as children, and were educated, married and raised families here. They have national insurance numbers and driving licenses, pay their taxes and, until recently, could work and claim benefits, just like anyone else. Until being asked for proof by employers or the JobCentre, none had any reason to question their immigration status. In their interviews, they tell of disbelief at discovering they are not as British as they thought they were.
When Theresa May talks about creating a hostile environment for "those who have no right to be in the UK", she won't have been thinking of the likes of 53-year old Aubrey, who arrived from Jamaica in 1973, and always ticks the 'Black British' box on official forms: "It's automatic," she says, "what else am I?"
A hard-working single father, Aubrey was sacked from his job of three years when he couldn't prove his immigration status. For the past nine months, he has been reliant on borrowing money from friends and family. His passport, with its precious 'indefinite leave to remain' stamp, was lost some years back. When he made a new application earlier this year, it was refused. When his solicitor started judicial review proceedings, the Home Office initially defended the case, although they backed down before it went in front of a judge.
Nor would Theresa May have been thinking of Lasith, sacked from his job of eight years, after he couldn't provide proof of his right to be in the UK. Lasith has lived, worked and raised his five children, entirely lawfully, since arriving 50 years ago from what was then still Ceylon. He didn't travel abroad since so he never replaced his original passport, but he ran into difficulties when his employer wouldn't accept the long-expired document, with its unfamiliar entry stamp from five decades ago, as proof of his status. After being fired, he received a letter from the Border Agency telling him he had 28 days to leave the country.
Nor would she have been thinking of Henry, also from Jamaica, who despite being here for 47 years, faced eviction after a Job Centre worker cut off his benefits and told him he had no right to be in the UK. Having left Jamaica age nine, Henry reflects that if he were thrown out of Britain the Jamaican authorities would most likely send him straight back.
As well as increasingly draconian legislation, those with irregular status face another difficulty. Legal aid was scrapped for immigration cases last year, which means they are no longer able to get expert help to resolve their situation. Unraveling what status someone may have been granted decades earlier and then proving it to Home Office satisfaction is a minefield even for experienced immigration lawyers. It's all but impossible for someone with no expertise in the field.
The research calls for a number of reforms, including for the Legal Aid Agency to use its discretion to grant ‘exceptional funding’ for these cases, and for the creation of a specialist unit at the Home Office to deal with applications more appropriately.
It also calls for greater openness from the Home Office about the immigration records it still holds as well as its archiving and destruction policies over the years. A persistent problem for interviewees was that the notoriously dysfunctional UK Border Agency (now replaced by UK Visas and Immigration) claimed to have no record of their ever having been granted leave to be in the country.
Although Aubrey has now been granted status, he is still waiting for his documents to arrive. Once they do, he plans to reapply for his old job. "I've lived here as a child. All of a sudden I felt like a criminal. Now I know what an alien feels like."
Fiona Bawdon is a London-based freelance journalist, who writes about civil and criminal justice issues for the national and specialist legal press. She is the author of the Legal Action Group report.
The opinions in politics.co.uk's Comment and Analysis section are those of the author and are no reflection of the views of the website or its owners.
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