to be surprised by how many people are anti-immigration?

[Mimstar]

I was called naive today. Apparently 'if you aren't concerned by immigration, you've got your head in wonderland'.

And I thought - actually, I know hardly anybody else who isn't anti-immigration.

I'm trying to understand this attitude, it seems so common nowadays. Maybe I do have my head in wonderland.

I'm so tired of hearing 'job stealers!' type comments.

Sorry for the repeat post. Looks like there may be up with the MN system as a lot of posts have been duplicated.

So yeah, asylum seekers get benefits until a decision is made whether or not their application is upheld.

So what happens when their application is upheld then? They are eligible to work and they supposedly cannot go home, so therefore they must be eligible to move onto normal benefits while they seek work, otherwise how can they live?

And I think you'll find no-one is automatically eligible for any benefits - immigrant or otherwise. We all have to fulfill criteria of one sort or another - even OAPs for their state pension.

Funny - my wages went down significantly because there were too many English people qualified and after 2008, a lot less jobs in my field.I stayed employed not by working for half their wages but by actively having maximised my experience and qualifications. But when I was unemployed there was no social housing, no JSA, no welfare safety net (and none if I'd gone back to my home country either as I'd been here so long. And yet, higher rate taxpayer all the way. I am pure profit to this country. But my kid (born here, British dad as well - care to pick on him too?) will have the same issues in schools (though likely to go private, again pure profit to the country) and everything else as you're talking about.

Are you as repugnant to GB born people who get social housing ahead of you, say because there are children or domestic violence or what have you? Do you have no ire for the government who sold off social housing and keeps cutting the NHS and other services you feel are under strain or do you really, truly, in that black hole between your heart and mind believe it is all the fault of Immigrants Like Me?

ophelia those examples are all very emotive but once again, entirely anecdotal.

If someone is willing to live in shit conditions in order to make themselves competitive, fair play to them. That is part of living in a capitalist society I'm afraid.
If your child has missed out on a place at the local school, that speaks to insufficient capacity - as discussed upthread, not a problem with immigration per se.
As for being pushed to the back of the social housing queue - well, don't you think a homeless family does have priority over one who is already in a home?! (And if you were at the 'front' of the queue, someone else taking priority over you wouldn't push you to the 'back', it would push you into second place... but that's semantics)

I don't consider myself rich, perhaps you would consider me so because I can afford a cleaner, but she's more British than me! (And her hourly wage is higher than mine..)

I'm always surprised how many people will talk negatively to me about immigrants. Especially as I am an immigrant to UK myself and my accent still clearly indicates this.

But I'm white and speak English. So as far as racists are concerned, I'm not really an "immigrant".

Which makes it very clear to me that most of the time when people are talking about "immigration" they are actually being racist.

This is not a new thing - it's been the case the entire 20 years I've lived here.

I should have said that I am a NATIVE English speaker, not that I speak English

Subliminal once an asylum-seeker is granted asylum, they become a Refugee.

At that stage, they are entitled to the same benefits as you or I, provided that they are eligible. I am yet to meet a refugee who wasn't eligible as they generally come with nothing but the clothes on their back and I've yet to meet a refugee who has walked straight in to a job on receipt of their papers.

By the way, NASS support, which is what asylum seekers get is £36.62 per week for a single adult, plus accommodation and utilities. Which still isn't a whole lot to feed yourself healthily.

To be clear, BeCool and I are not the same person. Though it sho nuff sounds like we could be. I feel like we should have coffee or something! :)

Revenge, can you clear up for me at what point you would be eligible for JSA etc? I'm (naively) astonished that those benefits aren't automatically available for all taxpayers, regardless of origin...

cin cin Revenge

Vinnie Jones made a similar comment in a magazine the other day (notjobstealers) but more'get our house in order first , I was a bit

marzi, once you get indefinite leave to remain (if you're not EU) you usually get access to benefits. DH has been at school in this country since he was 7 and has been working here since he graduated in 2008, and he got ILR late last year. The rules change all the time, though, so I think it might take longer now. You can't get ILR very easily without earning over a threshold anyway, so the idea is that if you get it, you should ideally be someone who doesn't currently need benefits. Not sure about the rules for married couples, though, I've forgotten.

I'm not 100% clear, but will tell you what I know.

I was not eligible for anything other than NHS (and only eligible for that as my visa was greater than six months) until I became a citizen. This was expressly stamped into my passport (no recourse to public benefits I seem to recall) and I was reminded at every visa renewal, passport renewal, and indeed every time I entered the country.

When I became a citizen, the next time I was unemployed (contractor - it happens about once a year) I decided to apply as £80 a week is better than £0/pw. I was told I wasn't eligible as I hadn't worked long enough. But I've worked here for eight years? No, not since becoming a citizen. And at that point I think we were talking 14 months after becoming a citizen.

I was re employed within two weeks, so no big deal ultimately but find it interesting when everyone whines about benefits culture and/or immigrants.

It's a tricky one, because I think a lot of people are concerned without being xenophibic or racist, but it's not socially acceptable to voice your concerns.

Thanks LRD and revenge. Good to have more fuel for the fire should I be faced with an anti-immigration argument IRL :)

This thread shows it is quite acceptable to voice your concerns. But you'd better have actual facts to back them up. In my experience, most people don't. But they do have an article from the DM or the Sun.

My personal favourite was the neighbour ranting about immigrants and voting UKIP. To me. Bearing in mind his wife was Philipina and both his sons had moved to Spain.

He got rather an earful.

But I think what people worry about are EU migrants, who don't have the same faff.

(I might have had the ability to apply for JSA after ILR, but it was only six weeks between the two and i was fully employed those weeks so not realky interested. But they definitely told me when I did apply that it was post-citizenship that counted.

what I found to be totally bizarre and unexpected about life as an immigrant in UK, was while still on my initial visa (i.e I had been here just a couple of years) I was able to vote in a General Election!!

The lack of social housing might have something to do with Right to Buy and the lack of new properties being built over the last 25 years. Our population has increased. Even if every immigrant left the country there would've be enough homes to go around. A lot of people don't even bother joining the list because demand is so high they know it would take 10 years for them to get near the top.

The NHS is currently being torn apart and is working under huge effective spending cuts. The waiting lists are going up. Not surprising when they are, amongst other things, cutting consultants clinic time. The lovely consultant that dealt with my mother 3 years ago has had her NHS clinic hours halved. They've not replaced her with someone else, just cut the hours. So now all her cancer patients have to wait twice as long to see her. Nothing to do with extra patients.

Really BeCool? I wasn't.

Consequently I was about the only person in the nation excited about voting for Police Commissioner!

But they do have an article from the DM or the Sun.

On the same subject a colleague started telling me the other day that something really needs to be done about ALL these poor men who are falsely accused of rape and really people charged with rape should be provided with anonymity. He was armed with a few articles from the DM/Sun.

I do apologise if you were buying your lunch in M&S that day.
He now has a much clearer view of the situation.

Personally I would like to see a report into the effect of immigration on provision of school places. I am sure the increased birth rate has partly been driven by immigration and local councils are not adequately increasing places.

My anger is at the LA though not the immigrants. If I could move for a better life I probably would .

Revenge I was interested in the thread because I don't know anyone - at least in my circle of friends and family - who isn't pro-immigration.
And I was pretty shocked to see some of the views that came up.