Reply to: Amnesty

[NotAllThere]

The Amnesty was in 2003, IIRC. It boosted the economy of Barcelona. Unless you can demonstrate that the current economic woes of Spain are due to immigration, your point is irrelevant.

[OwlHoot]

Barcelona gave their illegals (subject to certain criteria) amnesty, and it boosted the economy, and cut crime. By legitimising people, you cut the supply of labour to criminal gangs, which are a drain on society, and now you can tax them. It costs money to deport them, because it takes a huge amount of time and effort that could otherwise be better spent - e.g. by beefing up border controls.

But what hope does reason have against the xenophobic?

Boosted the economy? Guffaw.

The unemployment rate in Spain is 20% and rising.

[NotAllThere]

Barcelona gave their illegals (subject to certain criteria) amnesty, and it boosted the economy, and cut crime. By legitimising people, you cut the supply of labour to criminal gangs, which are a drain on society, and now you can tax them. It costs money to deport them, because it takes a huge amount of time and effort that could otherwise be better spent - e.g. by beefing up border controls.

But what hope does reason have against the xenophobic?

[contractor79]

How do you know they're illegal? Have you checked their papers?

I've reported a few to the police, who arrested some of them and had them deported.

It's just common sense. These people can hardly speak English, yet there are now citizenship tests so they couldn't have passed those.

Try thinking why they are walking around pubs, cafes, streets selling pirate DVDs? It's because they are here illegally and so can't be employed by anyone. So they work for criminal gangs, meaning their income goes to the pockets of criminal scum who pay no taxes and are already claiming benefits and so on anyway, no doubt.

Next time someone tries to sell you a dodgy DVD in the pub, do your patriotic duty and report them to the police.

[vetran]

Cobblers

We are rich because they are poor.

uh? Don't start that rubbish, if we want to go back to ancient history I want my free Roman citizenship, as I'm descended from an African called Eve It's my oil, diamonds etc. Historical guilt is not a sensible basis for policy.

India and China are now comparatively rich now yet instead of spending it on Healthcare and clean water they started a space program.

Those illegal immigrants managed to scrape the money to get here many through multiple 'safe' countries where they could have claimed asylum but didn't because they would have been rightly refused. Where do you think the money came from if the poor in the country they come from would love to live on a dollar a day? They were either the rich (who were able to change the country), criminals who were able to change the country from their position of power or in thrall to criminals who were able to change the country.

We need a point based system that works and zero tolerance for illegals. If we don't do these we just encourage the gang masters and undercut local workers of all grades.

[shaunbhoy]

We are rich because they are poor.

Yes, it is an ill-divided world...................thankfully!

[Gibbon]

We are rich because they are poor.

HTH

Nice, probably the most profound thing you've ever posted.

[threaded]

Are you saying we do owe them something? If so, maybe you'll explain why.

We are rich because they are poor.

HTH

[xoggoth]

Are you saying we do owe them something? If so, maybe you'll explain why.

[VectraMan]

A lot of them are selling pirate DVDs around our towns, for example, making profit for criminals.

How do you know they're illegal? Have you checked their papers?

The people I've seen selling DVDs in the market and video recorders for £5 (that was a while ago) were definitely of English origin.

We owe ILLEGAL immigrants NOTHING.

Do you write for The Sun?

[contractor79]

All very well, but there's no realistic proposition of finding them to deport them. Or are you advocating a massive increase in the size of and power of HMRC?

I think the LibDems have a point, but it would only have a hope of not making things worse, and being acceptable to the majority if we had much tougher border controls from now on so we could be reasonably sure this was a one off.

A lot of them are selling pirate DVDs around our towns, for example, making profit for criminals.

Give the ordinary public a financial incentive for tip-offs. Give the illegal immigrants a financial incentive if they give evidence against their criminal gangmasters before they get a plane ride home. Plenty of ways to smoke them out.

We owe ILLEGAL immigrants NOTHING.

[stek]

All very well, but there's no realistic proposition of finding them to deport them. Or are you advocating a massive increase in the size of and power of HMRC?

I think the LibDems have a point, but it would only have a hope of not making things worse, and being acceptable to the majority if we had much tougher border controls from now on so we could be reasonably sure this was a one off.

The UKBA is already a sort of Police Force, armed and ready to deport.

[stek]

How can one invade this country legally?



Anyway, you ignorant sods - there is (since forever?) a 14 year rule: any illegal gets permanent residence so long as they can prove they were in this country in any capacity for 14 years.

Provided they'd never been served with deportation or removal papers, whether they knew or not due to the very nature of their existence I'd imagine they'd move around a lot. ILR clock is stopped then. Many a person in this scenario has requested their SAR file from the HO, found out they'd been served with papers yonks ago, next a knock on the door at a valid address, one more back to Somalia....

[shaunbhoy]

If we are going to go with this amnesty idea, I'd like to suggest a few caveats. Offer an amnesty to all the illegals and tell them they will not be deported from the UK if they turn up on a specified day at various (heavily secure)drop-in centres. Once they are all rounded up there, we ship them all off to some remote Scottish island(s), where their "Community Service for being naughty" consists of constructing a huge facility for the manufacture of wind turbines and other renewable energy products. They then continue working there until a panel of mainland residents decides their debt to society has been paid in full.
They get to stay in the UK, develop a useful set of skills, not be a drain on the infrastructure because they would have to construct their own, and all for 3 square meals a day of HMG expenditure. What do the panel think? A winner or not?

[VectraMan]

We owe these cretins nothing. Deport them.

All very well, but there's no realistic proposition of finding them to deport them. Or are you advocating a massive increase in the size of and power of HMRC?

I think the LibDems have a point, but it would only have a hope of not making things worse, and being acceptable to the majority if we had much tougher border controls from now on so we could be reasonably sure this was a one off.