Legal charity the AIRE Centre has launched an appeal to raise £3,000 in just 30 days so it can bring a High Court challenge to one of the government policies on deportation.
It is asking for donations to its Crowd Justice Charity Appeal against Operation Nexus, a collaboration between the police and the Home Office regarding the deportation of foreign nationals.
The deportation of foreign nationals is based on proven conduct, usually demonstrated by a criminal conviction. In Nexus cases, according to AIRE, the Home Office is provided with police intelligence regarding foreign nationals who may only be suspected of criminal acts. This intelligence is then presented to the immigration tribunal considering the deportation appeal.
AIRE claims that Nexus, in operation since 2012, denies people a fair trial and leads to arbitrary decision-making on deportation. It conducted research which it claims demonstrated that the policy is being applied unfairly and could lead to foreign nationals being arrested without charge, or acquitted, but subsequently facing deportation. AIRE points out that the intelligence regarding the alleged criminal act will be used as evidence in a civil court applying the balance of probabilities test, without recourse to legal aid, and with no obligation on the court to disclose evidence favourable to the defendant.
