Special immigration status is highly objectionable, costly and unnecessary, says Hina Majid
A particularly obnoxious piece of legislation—Pt 12 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill—is easing its way through the corridors of . Part 12 creates a special immigration status (SIS), which classifies its recipients as people without leave to remain in the , and prevents them from obtaining temporary admission.
Its bite, however, penetrates far more deeply, incapacitating its recipients through the indefinite denial of those basic rights most of us take for granted. The right to earn a living and to sustain a family home, to access mainstream housing or welfare benefits, to access most secondary healthcare, and all forms of further and higher education are all likely to be withdrawn as a result of the operation of the scheme. So, too, is the ability to secure residential stability though acquisition of settlement or British nationality for the SIS’s duration.
FOREIGN NATIONAL CRIMINALS
SIS can be applied to “foreign national criminals”, who are liable to deportation, and cannot be removed from the
