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Like all facile solutions, "sending them back" sounds great when you aren’t in a position where you need to think about it much. Ensconced in your own country, embedded in your own culture.
The people who are in a position to think this idea through are usually the ones staring at the pointy end of it. I have been one of those people multiple times over the course of my nine years in Britain, until I became a citizen this year. I have had ample time to consider it from a very personal point of view.
I’m an economic migrant. I come from a wealthy superpower. I have moved to a wealthy superpower. Both superpowers have the same lingua franca. I am a skilled, highly qualified and healthy worker. You would think I’d had an easy time of it.
I have not, as anyone with access privileges and a desire to click on the “immigration” tag will quickly discover. Every time I’ve had to go through the process of renewing my right to stay in the UK has been a special little slice of hell. It was stressful, it was expensive, it was time-consuming and most of all, I was terrified of being rejected. After only a short time here, I knew this was where I wanted to live and work. The culture suited me. The work ethic and environment. The healthcare system (long live the NHS). There was also the matter of a certain gentleman referred to herein as the bloke. I was established here. I felt like I belonged.
And yet there was the worry that somewhere on that 150-page form, I might’ve made a fatal error and a harassed, overburdened immigration officer would have to deny my right to remain. On one renewal occasion, the points system was in flux and thus I was unsure whether my ample (by “average salary” standards) income would be sufficient for me to qualify. I had to wait three months to find out if I was going to be allowed to stay.
Sadly, no one else will be able to duplicate that experience. I say “sadly” because the Tier 1 (General) migrant category no longer permits applications from highly skilled workers who take home an annual salary of less than £150,000. I make less than a third of that, as will pretty much anyone in academia at my age with my skills and qualifications unless they happen to have rocketed to professordom. It’s basically impossible to come here as a skilled migrant unless you’re either already rich or working in finance.
Before I get too far off track, though, let me get back to my original point. I have thought, many times, about going back to the States to live, and frankly the thought horrifies me. I don’t belong there any more. I would suffer as much, and likely worse, culture shock on being forced to return “home” as I did when I moved here. I’m sure I would adapt - I’ve been adapting and succeeding or failing to various degrees for most of my life (moving from Hawai’i to the mainland US was the worst), although I feel I’ve done best in Britain. But it would be deeply unpleasant and damaging, not to mention totally pointless given that I have a partner, a child and a good job in this country.
There are those, I know, who will read this and say, “But we’re not talking about you when we say, ‘Send them home’.” My response? Yes, you are. I’m an immigrant. I may be the type of immigrant you happen to like on a personal level, but the law doesn’t work like that. Those poor harassed, overworked immigration officers that I mentioned before don’t get to apply their personal judgment to individual cases. They get to apply ticky boxes. I was fortunate enough to be able to fill in the right ticky boxes at the right times. Not everyone is, and just because they can’t, doesn’t mean they deserve to be sent away. Many of these people have grown roots here, just as I have, and it’s been a painstaking and loving and wonderful process for them. They have jobs. They’re skilled workers. They have friends and sometimes even family here. They want to stay. They contribute to the diversity, health and economy of the nation. And a lot of them face worse than “difficulty in readapting to their culture” on their return. So please. Have compassion. Stop saying, “It’s easy: Send them home.”
The people who are in a position to think this idea through are usually the ones staring at the pointy end of it. I have been one of those people multiple times over the course of my nine years in Britain, until I became a citizen this year. I have had ample time to consider it from a very personal point of view.
I’m an economic migrant. I come from a wealthy superpower. I have moved to a wealthy superpower. Both superpowers have the same lingua franca. I am a skilled, highly qualified and healthy worker. You would think I’d had an easy time of it.
I have not, as anyone with access privileges and a desire to click on the “immigration” tag will quickly discover. Every time I’ve had to go through the process of renewing my right to stay in the UK has been a special little slice of hell. It was stressful, it was expensive, it was time-consuming and most of all, I was terrified of being rejected. After only a short time here, I knew this was where I wanted to live and work. The culture suited me. The work ethic and environment. The healthcare system (long live the NHS). There was also the matter of a certain gentleman referred to herein as the bloke. I was established here. I felt like I belonged.
And yet there was the worry that somewhere on that 150-page form, I might’ve made a fatal error and a harassed, overburdened immigration officer would have to deny my right to remain. On one renewal occasion, the points system was in flux and thus I was unsure whether my ample (by “average salary” standards) income would be sufficient for me to qualify. I had to wait three months to find out if I was going to be allowed to stay.
Sadly, no one else will be able to duplicate that experience. I say “sadly” because the Tier 1 (General) migrant category no longer permits applications from highly skilled workers who take home an annual salary of less than £150,000. I make less than a third of that, as will pretty much anyone in academia at my age with my skills and qualifications unless they happen to have rocketed to professordom. It’s basically impossible to come here as a skilled migrant unless you’re either already rich or working in finance.
Before I get too far off track, though, let me get back to my original point. I have thought, many times, about going back to the States to live, and frankly the thought horrifies me. I don’t belong there any more. I would suffer as much, and likely worse, culture shock on being forced to return “home” as I did when I moved here. I’m sure I would adapt - I’ve been adapting and succeeding or failing to various degrees for most of my life (moving from Hawai’i to the mainland US was the worst), although I feel I’ve done best in Britain. But it would be deeply unpleasant and damaging, not to mention totally pointless given that I have a partner, a child and a good job in this country.
There are those, I know, who will read this and say, “But we’re not talking about you when we say, ‘Send them home’.” My response? Yes, you are. I’m an immigrant. I may be the type of immigrant you happen to like on a personal level, but the law doesn’t work like that. Those poor harassed, overworked immigration officers that I mentioned before don’t get to apply their personal judgment to individual cases. They get to apply ticky boxes. I was fortunate enough to be able to fill in the right ticky boxes at the right times. Not everyone is, and just because they can’t, doesn’t mean they deserve to be sent away. Many of these people have grown roots here, just as I have, and it’s been a painstaking and loving and wonderful process for them. They have jobs. They’re skilled workers. They have friends and sometimes even family here. They want to stay. They contribute to the diversity, health and economy of the nation. And a lot of them face worse than “difficulty in readapting to their culture” on their return. So please. Have compassion. Stop saying, “It’s easy: Send them home.”
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The system really sucks and I don't see it having improved in the ladt couple of years.
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What is very interesting is that new arrivals often want to separate themselves from those from that legacy ethnicity who have lost touch with the old country as anything more than an ideal or an idea. It makes for interesting discussions between real _________-Americans who have immigrated and those who identify as such and have been here for ever. At some point physiognomy will become less relevant for issues of immigration and that will change the discussion. Of course religion and culture changes are hard too. The journey from where we have been to where we are going is full of casualties of all sorts.
Of course, I would love to send Ted Cruz back to Canada, but I am afraid they won't take him.
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The ridiculous financial standards tripped a friend up. Her husband was supposed to move here to live with her but his earnings were from a US-based job that he would do remotely in the UK, apparently this showed an insufficient 'commitment' to the UK, and she earned too little to sponsor him. So now she's moving to the US, and the UK has lost 2 lovely people instead of gaining one. Immigration is in an ugly state in the UK right now.
Was this post prompted by the school girl sent 'home' to Kosovo? What an omnishambles of a fuckup that was. Awful
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What was hard for you when you moved from Hawai'i to the mainland US, if you don't mind answering?
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Incidentally, the French were generally furious about the girl who was deported and they made such a fuss that the decision was reversed (at least for her, so far). Even my right-wing paysan neighbours were disgusted. The English, in similar circumstances, are too polite and reticent about their opinion - except for the thugs, whose voice is then disproportionately loud.
There are huge problems of overcrowding in some places, and unemployment etc., but blaming immigration is picking on an easy target, and one which has little bearing on the real problems. Even entirely stopping immigration wouldn't fix those problems. As for people from certain African countries being so desperate to get away that they risk drowning, the focus of Europe (after immediate aid to fellow humans in trouble) should be on getting the causes dealt with.
As an immigrant in this part of France I feel more comfortable than when I go back to visit family in England. The locals won't speak to Parisian incomers, though! Ah, humanity.
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http://movagxen.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/immbillbrief.pdf
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It's that, the current UK government's position on immigration and some upsetting recent occurrences in my personal life about which I shall remain vague in a public forum.
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Which, frankly, is not a fun reason for getting married. You have to be pretty desperate to resort to it, and it's stupid that the law forces people into a position where that is final option if they want to stay.
What was hard for you when you moved from Hawai'i to the mainland US, if you don't mind answering?
It was hard because I didn't know how culturally different Hawai'i was, to be honest. I made loads of mistakes socially, particularly at school, because my tastes and habits were so far removed from the mainstream. For instance, Spam. Spam is served in a lot of dishes in Hawai'i. It's not gross, any more than fishcake is. But when my classmates found out I ate Spam...months of torment. :/
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Paying for a visa or for permanent settlement is, I think, OK, although the amount they charge for the service is probably not. Paying for naturalisation seems wrong. It should be considered an honour that a settled migrant has become enamoured enough of your country to want to become a permanent member of its society.
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I was thinking that too! The mind boggles.
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And that it isn't enouigh -- or at least, that the fees are clearly far from nominal because I wouldn't mind paying a bit toward whatever actual admin costs I necessitated -- is part of the reason I'm increasingly ambivalent about doing so even if/when I ever can afford it. I don't feel very wanted when I have to practically pay my own dowry (on top of the taxes, NI and vital social capital I contribute already, of course ;) ).
And not having to pay would also fit with what people think happens already. I can't count the number of times where, when I told people the hassle and stress I was going through as my spouse visa was running out and I was working on getting my Indefinite Leave to Remain, who were confused that I had to do anything at all. "You're automatically a British citizen because you married a British person!" they all told me. A lot weren't even really asking, they were so sure in their assumption that this is how the world works. The more I explained to them that I had to jump through tons of awful, intrusive hoops and still wouldn't be British at the end of it -- that indeed I might well never be a British citizen -- the more confused they got.
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And when I do I'm always stunned and shocked and at a loss for words - "how can you, a seemingly reasonable person, think this?" I can never take it much further than that.
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It's the UKs prohibitive standards of earnings - not just immediately but for 3 or 5 years - which really did it. I believe their immigration lawyer described it as 'easy' for them to move to the US after their attempts to arrange citizenship for him here.
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I also thought that being born here to parents with work/student/whatever visas meant you were a British citizen. Although an Indian friend of mine - presumably this is a commonwealth thing - told me that when her son (born here whilst she was here with her husband's work visa) would be able to choose whether he has a British passport when he is 16.
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