[DemolitionRed]

Paulette Wilson moved to the UK in 1968, and worked and raised her daughter here. Recently she was suddenly taken to Yarl’s Wood detention centre and almost forced on to a plane to Jamaica. She was asked for papers to prove she had a right to be here, yet in 1968 it was quite legal for her to come here from Jamaica, in fact, we invited people from the West Indies to our country to do the jobs we wouldn't do. Now rules about immigration entry are being applied retrospectively and the UKBA feel vindicated about putting a woman in her 60s into prison for working here for 34 odd years?

"Paulette Wilson had been in Britain for 50 years when she received a letter informing her that she was an illegal immigrant and was going to be removed and sent back to Jamaica, the country she left when she was 10 and has never visited since.

"Last month, she spent a week at Yarl’s Wood detention centre before being sent to the immigration removal centre at Heathrow, where detainees are taken just before they are flown out of the country. It was only a last-minute intervention from her MP and a local charity that prevented a forced removal. She has since been allowed to return home, but will have to report again to the Home Office in early December and is still worried about the possibility of renewed attempts to remove her.

"The experience of being detained and threatened with deportation to a country she has no links with has been profoundly upsetting for Paulette, a grandmother and former cook, who has paid national insurance contributions for 34 years and can prove a long history of working and paying taxes in this country.

"Paulette, 61, arrived in the UK in 1968, went to primary and secondary school in Britain, raised her daughter, Natalie, here and has helped to bring up her granddaughter. For a while, she worked in the House of Commons restaurant overlooking the Thames, serving meals to MPs and parliamentary security staff. More recently, she has volunteered at her local church, making weekly meals for homeless people.

"She has been left furious and distraught by this sudden Home Office decision to categorise her as an illegal immigrant. The week of detention in Yarl’s Wood was the worst experience of her life."

Welcome to the New England.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/...ars-in-britain

[Eddie.]

how bad of them to do that! makes me sick in the stomach!

[The Slim Reaper]

She had a good run while it lasted.

[smudgie]

Horrendous
If she has been living here since childhood and contributing to society then this is really poor behaviour of the authorities.
Hopefully common sense will prevail and she will be told she is welcome here, as soon as possible.

[LeatherTrumpet]

What is wrong with Jamaica all of a sudden?

[The Slim Reaper]

Originally Posted by LeatherTrumpet

What is wrong with Jamaica all of a sudden?

Did she leave the UK of her own free will or did Jamaica?

[Northern Monkey]

Originally Posted by LeatherTrumpet

What is wrong with Jamaica all of a sudden?

Never been but i watched a series once called Jamaica ER.It was a hospital in Kingston i think.
Put me off going to Jamaica that’s for sure.
Queues of gunshot injuries.One guy had to get his head drilled into without being put to sleep.

[LeatherTrumpet]

im sure there is a bit more to this "story"

[DemolitionRed]

Originally Posted by LeatherTrumpet

im sure there is a bit more to this "story"

Oh I'm sure you believe that LT

[Northern Monkey]

I would think that this is some kind of administration error.Sometimes when technology is involved stupid stuff happens.Computers don’t do common sense.
I’m all for strict immigration and sending illegals back but not for somebody who came legally that long ago and built a life.
Anybody who came here legally should still be considered legal.

[LeatherTrumpet]

In a statement, the Home Office said there had been on-going discussions with Ms Wilson over the past three years about how she could regularise her immigration status, including contact with her MP.

"These discussions did not lead to her making an application or providing the necessary evidence to show a lawful right to remain.

"However Ms Wilson has now submitted an application last month and we are looking into her case to help regularise her immigration status."

source BBC


So nothing much to see here

[DemolitionRed]

Originally Posted by LeatherTrumpet

In a statement, the Home Office said there had been on-going discussions with Ms Wilson over the past three years about how she could regularise her immigration status, including contact with her MP.

"These discussions did not lead to her making an application or providing the necessary evidence to show a lawful right to remain.

"However Ms Wilson has now submitted an application last month and we are looking into her case to help regularise her immigration status."

source BBC


So nothing much to see here

Oh I think there's a lot to see here. How many people has this happened or is happening to? Not everyone has the audacity to go to the papers.

[Oliver_W]

Originally Posted by DemolitionRed

Oh I think there's a lot to see here. How many people has this happened or is happening to?

I guess it depends on how many other people don't bother to make an application or provide evidence for years on end.

[DemolitionRed]

Originally Posted by Oliver_W

I guess it depends on how many other people don't bother to make an application or provide evidence for years on end.

I know in your world everything seems simple and when people lose out or nearly get deported, its simply because they didn't bother to do their due diligence. What a selfish thought Maybe she's like 8 million other Brits who can't read or write?

[Oliver_W]

Originally Posted by DemolitionRed

I know in your world everything seems simple and when people lose out or nearly get deported, its simply because they didn't bother to do their due diligence. What a selfish thought Maybe she's like 8 million other Brits who can't read or write?

Discussions were going on for more than long enough for her to say "I can't read or write btw."

[Cherie]

Originally Posted by DemolitionRed

I know in your world everything seems simple and when people lose out or nearly get deported, its simply because they didn't bother to do their due diligence. What a selfish thought Maybe she's like 8 million other Brits who can't read or write?

But in your world everyone needs everything done for them, there seems to be no personal responsibility, it says she has kids so maybe they could have assisted her if she was unable to read her write, she helps out in the church could she not have asked one of them. I doubt she will miss out on her free bus pass or OAP when it comes due, I don't agree with what was done here and personally think it is terrible that someone who has been here for 50 years would be treated in this way, someone along the way let the computer do the thinking and commonsense went out the window, just another person in the public sector who couldn't be arsed to do their job properly.

[Kizzy]

Old? Mentally ill? disabled? homeless? poor?..... leave or die please.

[LeatherTrumpet]

such a non story

honestly no wonder the Guardian is on its arse

[Oliver_W]

Originally Posted by LeatherTrumpet

such a non story

honestly no wonder the Guardian is on its arse

LT you don't understand. The evil racist government wants to fling her from the country so they don't have to pay her pension - the fact she didn't do her paperwork to stay here is just a coincidence.

[Nicky91]

Originally Posted by LeatherTrumpet

such a non story

honestly no wonder the Guardian is on its arse

mocking the gossip tabloids now are we, they are just providing us with news, without the tabloids we would know nothing

[LeatherTrumpet]

Originally Posted by Nicky91

mocking the gossip tabloids now are we, they are just providing us with news, without the tabloids we would know nothing

please stop

[Tom4784]

It's quite ridiculous considering that her family brought her to the UK as a result of an immigration drive. To send someone back to a country they do not know is cruel and nonsensical when they've lived in and contributed to the UK for fifty years.

It reminds me of the struggle the Dreamers in the US are going through, to go after people who were essentially raised in a country and for all intents and purpose ARE British/American is a malicious way of trying to achieve targets.

[bitontheslide]

Anomalies do happen in a country of millions of people. The question surely is whether its a common event, and I would expect the answer to be no. Therefore, the immigration department should do the right thing and grant this person legal right to stay. It's an exceptional circumstance and should be treated as such. It really doesn't even warrant a news story to be honest.

On the subject of whether she was remise in completing her documentation, there are a hundred potential reasons for it, all valid, and to suggest she is to blame is yet another form of victim blaming.

[Cherie]

Originally Posted by bitontheslide

Anomalies do happen in a country of millions of people. The question surely is whether its a common event, and I would expect the answer to be no. Therefore, the immigration department should do the right thing and grant this person legal right to stay. It's an exceptional circumstance and should be treated as such. It really doesn't even warrant a news story to be honest.

On the subject of whether she was remise in completing her documentation, there are a hundred potential reasons for it, all valid, and to suggest she is to blame is yet another form of victim blaming.

I don't think it is victim blaming, we have a Spanish bank account and every now and again we get a letter that is beyond our pidgeon Spanish abilities so we get it read by a Spanish speaker in case they want to freeze our account which they do for non nationals on a regular basis if you don't supply regular ID checks, its down to us to get it sorted and not to ignore it and yes it is ridiculous considering we only pay the bare minimum into the account every year but it's the law of the land so we have to get on with it

[Brillopad]

Originally Posted by Candy Cane

I don't think it is victim blaming, we have a Spanish bank account and every now and again we get a letter that is beyond our pidgeon Spanish abilities so we get it read by a Spanish speaker in case they want to freeze our account which they do for non nationals on a regular basis if you don't supply regular ID checks, its down to us to get it sorted and not to ignore it and yes it is ridiculous considering we only pay the bare minimum into the account every year but it's the law of the land so we have to get on with it

Personal accountability. If staying in the country was inportant enough to her you would have thought she would have found the time to make sure she completed the necessary paperwork. She did have 50 years to do so.

If I were emigrating to Australia for instance I would make sure I had dotted every i and crossed every t to ensure no one could kick me out.