A
couple of weeks ago (May 14thm to be precise) the new UK Immigration Bill passed into law. The Immigration Act 2014 brings in an array of new measures that, in the
words of Theresa May, focus on 'making it harder for people who are
here illegally to stay here". The act – along with this
statement - could have come straight out of a UKIP election manifesto (if they had one).
The
range of measures is vast and comprehensive. They include extensions
in the use of force in immigration matters (including deportation),
new healthcare charges for people without permanent residency, and
greater restrictions on bail for those in immigration detention. They
extend powers to enter and search homes and workplaces, and add new
powers to search people. This means that in a range of ordinary and
every day encounters, from renting a property to opening a bank
account or attending a place of learning or worship, people will be
required to identify and account for themselves. Opportunities to
appeal immigration decisions that label people as illegal in the
first place have been further limited through cutbacks in legal aid.
Presumably this measure has been taken instead of moves at improving
immigration decisions (and it is worth mentioning that last year 32%
of deportation decisions and 49% of entry clearance applications were
successfully appealed)?
The
trend of British Governments' demonising immigrants and using this
image as justification to further marginalise, oppress and
criminalise them is sadly nothing new, but this act sets a new
watermark. In removing access to fundamental public services, the
effects are likely to include poorer health, more homelessness, more
destitution, and more occurrences of mental illness for the people
these measures are aimed at. Removing access to healthcare does not
remove people's need for healthcare or remove those people who need
it. Making it illegal to rent out homes does not remove peoples' need
for housing or remove those who need to be housed. Denying access to
places of learning or worship does not remove those people who need
to learn or pray. It just marginalises, demoralises and scares
people. It weakens their support networks and makes them more
vulnerable. They will create greater insecurity, isolation and social
exclusion. But that's the point. 'Punish them them till they leave'
is the subtext. These measures effectively legislate for a loss of
dignity.
The
issue as to why we allow for people to be treated like this is
justified on the grounds that they are here illegally. Yet why is it
that certain people are labelled as illegal in the first place?
Illegality doesn't convey some kind of passive 'state of nature' but
is a label created by the state. And when Theresa May talks about
"making it harder for people who are here illegally to stay
here" she brushes over a fundamental flaw in the logic of the
state's approach to immigration.
In
recent years the grounds on which a person from outside the EEA can
qualify to live in the UK have shrunk. At the same time the powers to
enforce the exclusion and criminalisation of anyone classified as
'illegal' have grown. The need to 'get tougher' becomes
self-fulfilling: we need more measures to catch 'illegal people',
because the nets of who it is we define as illegal are being cast
wider and wider. This backward logic effectively leads to the
continuous expansion of who it is that can be considered illegal and
hence legitimately excluded. And this logic of exclusion does not
only apply to immigrants. From the stripping back of the NHS that
excludes people from accessing healthcare to cuts in welfare that
excludes people from social security, we see this trend in other
areas of all our lives. I don't want to live in a country where
people are denied the right to live in dignity.
When
this attack has presented itself in the past, people have resisted.
Some of the most inspiring forms of resistance have been those where
people have supported those under attack in their efforts to continue
to carry out everyday normal activities. For example, since the mid
2000's groups have formed to resist the dawn raids carried out by
the (then) UK
Border Agency
by being present with
potential deportees when such raids have taken place.
Around the same time,
when the government started issuing vouchers rather than cash
to asylum seekers (that could only be used in certain shops), some
people started schemes whereby people could exchange their vouchers
for cash. In response to this new act, we also need to start thinking
about Like these acts of solidarity, we need to start showing our
resistance to this new act, and to the tide of hatred that it
represents.