Statement on the Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Bill 

The Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Bill, which will enable the government to repeal freedom of movement and associated rights of EU nationals, is an attack on human rights. We stand against the bill and this progression of the government’s hostile environment.

The Windrush scandal showcased the depth of the violence created by hostile environment policies to great public outrage. The new Immigration Bill and accompanying White Paper demonstrate that the government nevertheless remains shameless in seeking to broaden its power to destroy and disrupt the lives of ordinary people. It clearly intends to continue the worst aspects of the hostile environment, couched in the language of ‘eligibility’ and ‘compliance’.

In our view the provisions of this Bill, and many aspects of the immigration system in general, are not compatible with the fundamental rights to privacy, family life and liberty, which should be enjoyed without discrimination on any basis, including national origin.

We reject the politics and policies of dehumanisation that see people torn from their families, stripped of their liberty in detention centres, exploited in their workplaces and left fearful of accessing education or medical care.

We reject the government’s continued commitment to the cruelty of the hostile environment, immigration detention and charter flights.

And we reject the claim that any person is illegal. The cruelty of the border regime is neither necessary nor acceptable. It must be dismantled, so that we can build a society in which fundamental rights and human dignity are not slogans, but reality.

Signed:

Against Borders for Children

All African Women’s Group

Docs Not Cops

End Deportations

Global Justice Now

Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB)

Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI)

Lesbians and Gays Support Migrants (LGSM)

Med Act

Migrants Organise

Migrants’ Rights Network

National Union of Students (NUS)

North East London Migrant Action (NELMA)

Refugee Action

Right to Remain

Right 2 Work

Solidarity with Refugees

The Advocacy Academy

Unis Resist Border Controls

United Voices of the World

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Background notes

Bill

Government explainer here

Bill itself here

White Paper

Summary here

Full PDF here

• On December 19th 2018 the Government published a White Paper delineating its plans in regards to a new immigration system to be implemented after leaving the European Union.

• The following day, it published the Bill discussed above. It gives the government a blank cheque to repeal the EU law that gives EU nationals and others free movement and associated rights. It also gives ministers (rather than Parliament) further powers to amend existing immigration law through regulations, which are barely scrutinised by Parliament and rarely meaningfully opposed. The requirement on the DfE to collect children’s nationalities and countries of birth was introduced through regulations, for example. The Home Office cannot and must not be trusted with such sweeping powers.

• The Bill and the White Paper show that all the government is committed to, even after Windrush, is a rebrand of the hostile environment, and the subjection of EU nationals to the same inhumanity and unfairness that people from other parts of the world have long faced. People will still be shut out of vital public services, housing and work because of their immigration status, and black and brown people and those with ‘foreign-sounding’ names will continue to face discrimination by landlords and public services because of their perceived immigration status.

• Furthermore, the White Paper’s emphasis on ‘highly skilled’ migrants and the minimum salary threshold of £30k for overseas workers show that movement across borders will remain a privilege solely for the rich, continuing a dehumanising and exploitative approach that views migrants purely as cogs in the economy, rather than people deserving of dignity and rights. The proposed scheme for ‘low skilled’ (read: low paid) workers will simply contribute to a situation in which more people are undocumented, and more people are trapped in situations of destitution and labour exploitation.

• The Immigration Bill has its second reading in the Commons on Weds 16th January.