Farage promises to deport people with ILR

[Acidburn]

Posting in AIBU for traffic.
Nigel Farage stated he would deport anyone with existing indefinite leave to remain. We are talking about millions of people.
This terrifying. If people live here, work here, have kids and mortgages - where are they supposed to go?

He’s an idiot. And a liar. And says whatever he wants to get attention

i honestly despair at the amount of attention he gets compared with, say the LDs who have multiple times the amount of seats. But they don’t spout total nonsense so of course the press isn’t interested

Farage thrives on populism, and so did a few dictators in our recent history. This is a dangerous political agenda, and should be recognised as such.

He is causing division in society rather than providing solutions that connect our communities, support local businesses and build sustainable energy and food ecosystems. It's easy to blame the voiceless (as we don't have an 'immigrant party' in politics as all immigrants are different); other minority groups will be next.

And I’m saying that deportation won’t apply to the majority of the people if this rule change happens. It’s not the correct terminology. Most do follow legal requirements.

The Home Office do all this already (apart from 6. and 7.). For example on point 5, removal of visa status and deportation is automatic for any non-citizen who has been received a sentence of 1 year or more. Last year there were over 61,000 returns in total, of which about 5,000 were foreign criminals after serving a sentence.

But for every positive anecdote, somebody will be able to counter with the opposite.

No it's not. Deportation is involuntary removal. It's a very small portion of the total number of removals, the vast majority of which are voluntary ("you're visa has expired, you've got 2 weeks to get your affairs in order and piss off or we'll deport you").

@IceLollyMolly I know the NHS payment exists I actually said so, however anyone working in NHS or education knows there are huge numbers of people who do not understand or speak English despite living here for many years, so while the requirement is there, it seems to be not working or it is enforced for some and not others, thuogh I know it was only introdued in 2010

The poster didn't quote any other numbers, what numbers do you want verified?

The whole point of this conversation is that once an immigrant has ILR, they CAN claim benefits.

That would include a lot of elderly EU citizens who have been here since before 1973 and had to use the Windrush Scheme post-Brexit because, for various technical reasons, they couldn't apply for Settled Status. My 82-year old mother is one of them, she's been here since 1965.

Yes exactly. If anyone thinks they will be deported it’s because they’re in the small group that don’t follow requirements.

I'm an immigrant who does not yet have ILR and it's blatantly obvious to me that the current ILR system needs to be reformed.

Brits have no idea how conditions are in non-warzone but economically-struggling countries. It boggles my mind when I see "why would anyone bother moving countries for 5 years just to then get to live off benefits? Benefit life is terrible".

There are people in my home country who live in shanty towns made out of sticks and supermarket plastic bags. Why are you asking such stupid questions.

High income high skilled immigrants who can support themselves don't mind if the barrier to access benefits is significantly increased. We would like a few things, like grace periods to find jobs instead of being kicked out immediately, perhaps linked to amount of tax paid to date - since senior job recruitment can take months - but that's all.

That's just not factually correct - the majority of migrants earn the national average wage or above and in both the average earning age bracket and the higher earning age bracket are net contributors at higher rates that UK born citizens - only the lower wage earning migrants are not net contributors.

But actually, regardless of which study or methodology is used, the overall impact of migration is minimal as a percentage of GDP and higher net migration figures actually reduce government borrowing.

https://migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/briefings/the-fiscal-impact-of-immigration-in-the-uk/

If I was in that situation I’d probably want to have the same nationality as my spouse and children.

Have you not used services here for 20 years? No kids in schools or colleges, no NHS use?

Many of these people are not net contributers because they bring in unproductive dependents who are using schools, the health service, housing and so on. They should only have been allowed in as single guest workers and with all the restrictions on use of facilities that that implies.

DH would have refused to work in the UK without his family. His expertise was so badly needed in what was a new industry at the time, that the government awarded tax free status to entice experienced workers like himself. DC went to private schools and we bought our own house.

After the tax free period ended, DH as a high tax payer with private family health care, me in employment that required post -graduate qualifications, and DC in 40% tax bracket, could hardly be considered non net contributors.

ILR doesn’t expire. That the entire point. You only lose it if you spend years outside of the country. Biometrics cards all expired on 31/12/2024. People had to create an eVisa account as your immigration status is now virtual.

this isn’t directed at the poster I’m quoting, but the misinformation on this thread is astonishing. Some of us have spent years studying and working in immigration law and I find it hilarious that people consider now themselves experts in a field after reading a Daily Mail headline.

Because we English instantly learn other languages when we move abroad!

Why are 1 in 6 on UC then if that is true. The immigrants I know send so much of their money back to their own country to parents.Not much being spend into the UK economy.

I can't listen to him. If I see him on TV I immediately switch off. I can't stand the sight of his gruesome face either.

Here are some more facts:

15% of UC claims are by non UK/Ireland passport holders. Of these claims 70% (10.4% of total UC claims) are by EU nationals with settled status. They are "immigrants" - but that word tells you nothing about how long the individuals have lived in the UK nor what they have been doing.

40% of all UC claims are by people in work. Their claim tells you nothing about what work they may previously have done, nor how much tax they have cumulatively paid.

Somewhere around 48% of the Welfare budget goes on pensions; that proportion will rise to well over 50% in the next few years. The most obvious way to "massively reduce" the budget is by cutting pensions. Wouldn't you agree?

I'd like to see the stats on how many Reform voters are on benefits.

35% of over 65s would vote for them. So those on the biggest part of the welfare budget, state pension, and those who are the biggest users of the NHS by some way. The NHS and care homes would be on their knees within weeks without immigrants. Goodbye to your hip surgery, cancer treatment and day to day personal care.

Applying for citizenship allows you to settle.

What benefit does he have from retaining his existing citizenship? Given he obviously plans to be here long-term, why not relinquish it?

What do you think Universal Credit is for, out of interest? Do you think it's only for people who don't work?