Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants

PRESS RELEASE

We await the Immigration Bill, to be published by the Home Office in the morning. We are set to scrutinise the detail and provide an analysis of the contents and their impact tomorrow, but on our understanding of the proposed contents, we make the following comments.

KEY POINTS IN RESPONSE TO THE IMMIGRATION BILL

Landlords to check Immigration Status or face fines

Immigration status is complex. This proposal will lead to racial profiling and discrimination against black and ethnic prospective tenants as it will be much easier for a landlord a property to someone who can produce a British passport.

Charging for the NHS :

Health tourism is a myth. Charging students will prove to be another disincentive for foreign students to study here, and will raise very little revenue. These measures will cost the NHS more to implement then they will save, increasing red tape and preventing doctors from doing their real job.

Appeal of Deportation:

Appeal rights for those facing deportation are to be drastically reduced and appeals will only be heard after the individual concerned is deported. This is extremely concerning. To remove people before hearing their evidence begins to sound very ‘Kafkaesque’ and cannot be how a just, democratic society operates.

Article 8 the Right to Family Life:

The attempt to negate or nullify the Human Rights Act and to change the legal interpretation of the ECHR is an attack on all our civil liberties.

Habib Rahman, Chief Exec of JCWI said:

“It’s incredible to see what depths Theresa May and the Conservative-led government will stoop to in order to attract the anti-immigrant vote. The UK should be proud of the role its representatives played in drawing up the European Convention on Human Rights, to see it watered down like this would be a national shame. These measures will divide society, creating a two-tier Britain, a return to the days of ‘No dogs, no blacks no Irish” and of ill people with no access to health care walking the streets of Britain. This Bill is a travesty and must be stopped”

FURTHER DETAILS:

Landlords to check Immigration Status or face fines

To expect landlords to become de facto border guards by demanding they check the immigration status of prospective tenants is hugely problematic. People don’t have ‘illegal’ or ’legal’ stamped in their passports. Many migrants with valid leave to remain applications have their passports held at the Home Office for months on end. They will not be able to easily prove their right to be here. Landlords cannot be expected to become immigration experts and will play it safe, not wanting to face a fine of £3,000, and this will lead to discrimination against people who look or sound potentially foreign.

Many migrants will then be forced to rent from ‘rouge landlords’ who exploit vulnerable people and do not pay taxes on the rent they earn.

Charging for the NHS :

Students do not come to the UK to ‘abuse the health system’. A £200 levy will only raise £100 million but will send out another message that foreign students are mistrusted and not welcome.
Primary care is much cheaper than hospital care. Forcing people to who attend A&E because they can’t afford health care will cost the NHS more.
This has serious implications for public health care. Diseases can spread if not dealt with promptly. The Home Secretary is playing lose with the nation’s health to grab the anti-immigrant vote.

Appeal of Deportation:

Anybody with a 12 month sentence faces automatic deportation. However, not all of those are hardened criminals with no connection to the UK. The right of appeal allows a balancing act between the State’s right and the individuals. It is of significance that almost 30% of deportation appeals succeed. Demonstrating that automatic tick boxing is not appropriate and the Home Office does get cases wrong almost 1 out of 3 times.

Article 8 the Right to Family Life:

The attempt to negate or nullify the Human Rights Act and to change the legal interpretation of the ECHR is an attack on all our civil liberties.

Changes were introduced in the Immigration Rules last year to drastically restrict the scope of the right to family life but judges have overruled this. They are now being forced to follow the Home Secretary’s interpretation by inclusion in primary legislation. This contradicts the interpretation of the European Convention of Human Rights which we are currently still treaty bound to honour.

For Further Information please contact:

Guy Taylor

Communications Officer: 07956 681 328:

Saira Grant

Legal & Policy Director: 07944 773 601: