Britain could be at home to almost 750,000 illegal immigrants according to a study for London Mayor Boris Johnson. The Home Office estimated in 2001 there were 430,000 illegal immigrants, which shows there has been a significant increase since.
Mr Johnson said an amnesty for many would be “morally right”, but the government warned it would become a “big pull factor” for more immigration.
Debate
The London School of Economics (LSE). estimated that if a minimum of five years’ residence in the UK were needed to qualify, 450,000 illegal immigrants could be granted amnesty.
Mr Johnson suggested an amnesty, which would offer some the right to work officially and eventually gain full citizenship, during the 2008 mayoral election.
What you would need to be Granted Amnesty
Mr Johnson said: “If it does look as though they could make a contribution to society, we should regularise their status or offer them the chance of regularising their status.”
He added: “There would be some very tough criteria. Obviously no criminal record would be one, an ability to support yourself and support your family, commitment to society and the most, the most important thing is they should have been here for a considerable period of time.”
Mr Johnson said it was a “hard political argument to win” but added: “If people are going to be here and we’ve chronically failed to kick them out it’s morally right that they should contribute in their taxes to the rest of society.”
What To Do?
At current rates of deportation, using the LSE figure of 725,000, it would take 34 years and cost almost £9bn to clear the illegal immigrants.
Some claim that an amnesty would lure other illegal immigrants to the UK as it would be seen as a great opportunity. Immigration Minister Phil Woolas said such a scheme would encourage more illegal immigrants.
He said: “What unfortunately would happen is that people traffickers and others would see that as a pull factor to get people to the United Kingdom illegally and we would end up with a bigger problem not just for our society, but for the people themselves involved.”
But neither the Conservatives or the government support an amnesty.
Stricter Borders
A spokesperson added: “There is now triple ring of security that protects Britain: fingerprint visas, ID cards for foreign nationals that lock people to one identity and our hi-tech electronic border controls that check people against police, immigration and customs watch-lists and will cover even more passenger journeys by the end of this year.
Immigrants getting UK Jobs?
There is more anger that jobs would be going to immigrants even though Britain is entering a huge recession, surely those scarce jobs should be going to British citizens.
Sir Andrew Green, chairman of the Migrationwatch think-tank, opposed the idea of an amnesty, saying: “We have the biggest recession in memory getting under way, two million unemployed, heading up for three million. Is it really suggested that British jobs should go to illegal workers? It just makes no sense at all.”
I have written about this problem before, in such a difficult time for workers, why would the government even be contemplating giving jobs to illegal immigrants. Britain can’t afford to employ europeans, the british must come first in times of hardship.
