Autistic youth being deported

[MayYouLiveInInterestingTimes]

I don’t know, why not ask on here? I’ve had a couple of links to petitions against the deportation of this 22 yr old Osime Brown dropped into my inbox. Apparently he is being deported due to a flat law saying if you’re imprisoned for over a year you get deported. But his “home country” is one he left at the age of 4, and he doesn’t seem to understand that it’s half way round the world. Google brings up this Guardian story. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/oct/10/osime-browns-mother-vows-to-fight-against-deportation-to-jamaica
Is there a back story? This does not seem right.

The Guardian "our deportation laws are systemically racist". Who writes this stuff - of course they are the obviously only target non-nationals.

He should be deported, the law says he should, it would be discriminatory not to deport him.

####he seems to be a potential threat to law order and not much of a benefit to the country. If his mother is certain he would suffer then nothing stops her going to help him.

The Guardian "our deportation laws are systemically racist". Who writes this stuff - of course they are the obviously only target non-nationals.

They are quoting the director of Detention Action. And yes, our deportation laws target non-nationals but the system is clearly systemically racist, disproportionately targeting certain ethnicities. For clarity, the proportion of black children deported is much higher than the proportion of black children in the immigrant community.

he seems to be a potential threat to law order and not much of a benefit to the country

Did you actually read the article? He was convicted under joint enterprise. In other words, he did not commit a crime. He was present when a crime was committed. Given that our justice system is systemically racist and "joint enterprise" is almost exclusively used to target young black men, he would almost certainly not have been convicted of anything if he were white and not autistic. I doubt he is any more of a threat to law and order than the average young male.

That last sentence is very true.

He’s got a criminal conviction and serving 5 years.... hardly innocent.

@AlwaysCheddar

He’s got a criminal conviction and serving 5 years.... hardly innocent.

Seriously?

There are plenty of innocent people serving long sentences in UK jails. Our justice system is far from perfect. We know that around 4,300 people per year are wrongly convicted. The true figure is probably much higher.

In this particular case it seems he was convicted under joint enterprise. That means he did not commit the offence himself. If he is guilty of anything, he is guilty of being autistic, black and having a friend who committed a crime.

As per my previous post, "joint enterprise" is almost exclusively used to target young black men. If he was white he probably would not have been convicted of anything. He probably wouldn't even have been charged.

He was convicted under joint enterprise. In other words, he did not commit a crime

He is a convicted criminal who under our laws should be deported.
His mother could have applied for him to be a citizen and if she is that worried she could return to Jamaica with him.

"joint enterprise" is almost exclusively used to target young black men

Murderers of Stephen Lawrence - convicted under joint enterprise both white

Murderers of Garry Newlove - convicted under joint enterprise all 3 white

Yes, some white youths and adults are convicted under joint enterprise. That doesn't undermine my point. I did not say it was exclusively used to target young black men. I said, "almost exclusively". A young black man is far more likely than a young white man to be convicted of a crime under joint enterprise.

I will say again - if Osime Brown was white and not autistic he probably wouldn't have been charged, let alone convicted. I do not think it is in any way justifiable to have a racist justice system that convicts people based on the colour of their skin and then uses that as justification for deporting them.

If he had actually committed a serious crime I would probably agree with you. However, on the information available it appears his only offence was to have a friend who committed a crime whilst being black and autistic.