I think this idea that we can’t tell who is an immigrant is incredibly disingenuous.
A lot of the discourse reminds me of the trans debate - people seem to think the same arguments from 2014 are still relevant now, when in reality the picture has changed so much.
I am friendly with some Kurds who have been in the UK since the early 2010s. They are not white and English isn’t their first language, but they don’t “stick out” at all. They behave completely normally, are quite community-minded and they have strong friendships/relationships with other Kurds in the area.
Recently they have been very loudly complaining about immigrants who’ve recently moved to the area and are operating out of neon-lit shops selling dodgy vapes and energy drinks. They are not happy that their reputation is being affected by these newcomers and they are making it clear that they are nothing to do with them.
But these new Kurds are very clearly new to the country - you can just tell by how they are and how they behave.
Similarly I have a number of black friends who were born here (and some from the Caribbean who came here in their early twenties). They are very different from the wave of immigrants who have arrived since 2021/2022. The Caribbeans are very Reform UK and GB News friendly.
It is startling how quickly the demographic of my NE hometown has changed in less than five years. Over the weekend I walked past a pile of litter that has been dumped and noticed that it was all in Arabic. Last year I saw some graffiti relaying the message that God was Black. There are people on the trains and buses who don’t understand the tickets. Loud conversations in different languages. Groups of men in the parks and on the main roads leading to the hotel that’s been used to house migrants.
You can’t tell us that there is no way to tell who has recently arrived and who has been here for years.