Sheila Fraser is paid to criticise and not solve problems

The auditor general in Canada, Sheila Fraser, has said she has exposed major problems with Canada’s immigration system. Her report has been classed as a damning appraisal on the Canadian immigration structure at present.

The main emphasis of her report is the temporary foreign worker program, which she claims is effectively bringing in mass unskilled workers with no thought of the long-term consequences. This is increasingly meaning that workers with poor English skills are being taken advantage of, and with little chance of knowing or doing anything about it.

This is a slight embarrassment for the Canadian Immigration minister, Jason Kenney, who has been seen to be an advocate of the foreign worker program, just last month announcing plans to improve the working conditions of this low-skilled sector.

The report also said that Canada was failing in their efforts of lowering the backlog of applications for Canadian visas. A change in the occupations that Canada accept for skilled worker visas was claimed would ease this problem, however since it was introduced last year there has been little evidence of the desired effect.

The problem with reports such as this is they have little to say in relation to what should be done and a lot to do with minor problems. Canada for my money has one of the most forthcoming and positive approaches to immigration apparent at this time. To highlight problems with a program that has been claimed by other sources to help ‘tens of thousands’ of businesses that would otherwise go out of business is baffling.

The story last month of the town of Brooks, in Canada, and the company XL foods Inc, which up until recently stood derelict, yet now employs a 2,400 strong workforce, 60% of which are low-skilled immigrant workers is testament to this.

It is staggering how reports into immigration such as this can have any claims on being factual. The long-term benefits to that town are that the community has adapted to their presence and the economy has been boosted. Now if Sheila Fraser wants to point out why this is a bad thing for Canadian society she should, but to have a wishy wash approach to it and point to the obvious potential flaws is pointless.

To have a policy that allows un-skilled labour into the country is going to be open to abuse. The fact that some workers are not being paid what they should has to be amended, however, these cases are not the common denominator of the program.

While I feel it is right to open up a debate about what is wrong with a system, to claim that the whole program has major problems is doing it a dis-service. There is a long held belief that government policies are there to be challenged and then changed, often resulting in a new policy that is surprisingly similar to the last, and the small flaw that was there has simply moved somewhere else. This is a cycle that can theoretically continue forever, with people like Sheila Fraser being paid to find faults with what is a very good a well-working system. Wouldn’t the people that we pay our taxes for be better off doing some work like the rest of us, rather than telling us what we already know, that there are no answers and the world is sometimes a bad place?

Nigel Farage MEP backs Global Visas

The UK Independence party has added its weight behind a story we ran about loop-holes in the current UK student visa system. Colleges and visitors posing as students are exploiting the current rules in place for their own purposes.

The story was first brought to light by the BBC’s Donal Macintyre. The fact that rules governing the issue of these UK visas were only changed last year seems to be making no difference.

We have a real problem in this country of people saying they are here to study in order to gain a student visa; this is a known scam among certain visitors in order to gain entry into the country and then be given the right to remain for the duration of the course. We are not advocating that the whole system is corrupt, it is just a simple rule that colleges, and indeed students, should be penalised if they are found to have not been attending the course.

This problem is not a difficult one to police, and we thought on the face of it that the government had come up with a solution to the problem with the checks they have put into place.

However, this is not the case and we broke the story about colleges still taking advantage of the UK visa system on Wednesday.

An email we received from the offices’ of Nigel Farage of the UK Independence party agreed there was a problem;

“Thank you for your hard-hitting, and highly justified, criticism of the government’s procedures for verifying the status of students.

As though immigration-policy, as a whole, were not a noisome shambles, the government cannot even administer one of the few controls, which remain at its disposal.  This is surely too incompetent to be credible as a mere mistake, and the Conservatives have no solution either!”

So the problem with the current system has been highlighted, the question now is what does the government propose to do about it?

Posters at bus stops were rolled out recently with the slogan “Hidden in Plain Sight.” They are being displayed across the US in Dallas, Detroit, Los Angeles, Miami, Philadelphia, New York, St Paul,  San Francisco and Tampa to name but a few.

The campaign is a drive by the government to raise awareness about human traficking and the serious consequences for those involved. It is encouraging Americans to become more aware of their surroundings and notice if anyone around them is being forced to act or work against their will, which can only be a good thing.

Do you have anything to declare?

News today that the UK also has a problem with visitors overstaying their visas and remaining in the country illegally adds to a list of countries that worryingly cannot trace visitors, and can only presume are still present in their borders.

The UK policy on immigration has come under the spotlight this week as the Labour party was accused of not being clear on their aims and reasons, some quarters claimed the party had “led the country up the path of mass immigration without explaining the benefits.”

The policy which has been at the forefront of Labours’ time in power, and was unquestionably a personal manifesto of Tony Blair’s time in office, is being questioned as commentators try and understand why certain parts of society are empathising with the BNP.

The question being asked is how has the British National Party grown to getting two seats at the European parliament? Although this is seen as an insignificant number, the issue still remains that certain parts of the country do have sympathy’s with the view of the party.

This view that immigration is a bad thing for the UK is in contrast to that of the current government, it is thought that understanding of the benefits of immigration is key to the issue.

The new problem of people overstaying their visas has become an international debate with some estimates putting this form of illegal immigration above any other. The US claim that half of the illegal’s inside their borders arrived on tourist visas and overstayed. The view that this is happening around the world, with no solution apparent must be worrying for the governments of these countries.

Although stiff punishments for being in certain countries illegally are in place, this is obviously not a deterrent. The fact that people are willing and able to travel to a country, and then operate there without the proper permissions, is a fact that has been established. The question of how to prevent it, however, has not.

Short of putting tracking devices around everyone’s neck that enters every country you are never going to control people’s movements. The amount of money involved in detaining, then deporting these people once caught, as well as other costs, raises the question of whether the system in place is workable. UK immigration, like the rest of the world for the moment has to accept that some people entering legally will go on to stay illegally.

As I write this an Immigration somewhere is leaving the Home Office and they are not being replaced.  The budget is going to be slashed.  It has to be slashed and even with all the money they have received over the last few years the UK BIA have failed to address the 400,000 people in the UK who want to make the UK their home.

The BNP now have a seat and the simple reason is because the government have failed in their Immigration control.  It is time to get serious and get on and start the amnesty. 

The UK can not afford to continue to avoid the facts that an Amnesty would be beneficial to the UK Plc.  Added taxes, less benefits and more resources could be freed up to focus on protecting the boarders.

If you believe an Amnesty would be beneficial to the UK I want to you to post your reply.  Together we can send a message.  I am the Director of Global Visas with over 20 years experience in Immigration law and I want to be the first person to say Today is the day the UK BIA MUST declare their amnesty.

In 2007 I said the UK Immigration needed an Amnesty.  Since then the BNP have won seats, the UK BIA have made no progress and the system is still failing.  The UK Government have to stand up now and accept the facts.

Please join me with your comments – I want to see an Immigration Amnesty in 2010.

Detention centres are no place for school kids

Unofficial statistics reveal that over 1300 child migrants were held in immigration centres across the UK over the past 15 months. The statistics were in a letter from the UK immigration minister Phil Woolas to the Scottish National Party’s Pete Wishart.

The news has shocked many commentators on UK immigration, and has ignited debate on whether under 16’s should be treated this way, in what is generally considered a tolerate country for immigration.

The US policy on illegal immigrants is similar in that they are held in detention centres before being deported, as you would expect there are no official statistics for under-16’s held in these centres.

This being the case, last month Barack Obama announced plans to overhaul US policy on immigration centres in the country, saying that detainees will no longer be held like prisoners but instead in converted hospitals and old hotels that will act more like check-in points than prisons, allowing detainees to continue their lives until their case is heard.

While this is a step in the right direction for a country that has typically been accused of poor policy on immigration, the UK has always been thought as more of a liberal country in regards to immigration.

The case of Ibrahim Ssentongo, four, was publicised this week. The youngster from  East Ham, London, has been resettling to life with his family after a traumatic time in the Yarls Wood detention centre in Bedfordshire. Seven months since he was locked up the trauma of the 51 days he was away for are very much at the front of his mind

Since being released from Yarls Wood, Ibrahim, has become quieter, more within himself, he is now prone to tears. Ibrahim was born in the UK, yet now finds every day trips frightening and often refuses to walk down the street.

Stephen Ssentongo, Ibrahim’s father, who is from Uganda says:

“When he sees people in uniforms of white shirts and black trousers, like bus drivers or security guards in shopping centres, he thinks they are guards from detention. He wants to hold your hand or to stand in front of you, so that you will hold him. He is scared.”

This story and hundreds like him surely have no place in the UK and are more like tales from a Dickensian era than the 21^st century. Now that these have come to light it surely now lies with the government to address the issue of detention centres for under-16’s?

There is no place for the BNP in society

The UK Evening Standard had published an article relating to the creeping popularity of the BNP in the country and how the government were somewhat to blame. They had lost the “white working classes”, through unclear policy and misunderstandings on UK immigration. The article is a level headed appraisal of why the BNP have some empathisers; it does also remind me that this country is not the nationalist disaster some countries are in 2009.

I would not put Australia into this category, however, I was alarmed at the tone and the underlying lack of empathy for the Sri Lankan ‘boat people’, the articles topic, currently adrift of the Australian coast. The writer in question abhorrently held the view these people in no way should step foot on Australian land.

Why I found it to be a very insightful article by Tony Travers in the Evening Standard was also the reason I found ‘The Australian’ writer in dire need of some education into Australian immigration.

The brainless-ness of the article seemed to have escaped whatever editorial team they have in place for that particular paper and they would be best advised to gain a better understanding of immigration and the benefits it can bring to a country.

Most migrants are hard-working and what ever place they settle benefits from this and the new creativity this brings. Although some migrants, when they first arrive, are unskilled they will surely have offspring that will thrive in a country that gives them the opportunities to achieve what their parents never had the chance to.

Again it would come back to the respective governments, who have not been clear on the immigration effect and why it is important for economic growth. I am sure the article writer in Australia is guilty of the same mis-guided views as some people in the UK, and that is that migrants are somehow depriving them of something.

Until governments start explaining the good of immigration and the payback it brings for the areas that provide homes for the new arrivals, then views such as those expressed by the BNP and certain papers, as unfortunate as it is, will be listened to.

Immigration is a global issue now

International immigration is big news to western countries around the world and skills shortages in numerous key sectors have been highlighted recently, countries are simply not producing enough skilled workers to keep up with projected growth. This has led to a ‘skills race’ as different countries vie for workers from around the world to fill the gaps, these gaps are set to become exasperated in 10 years time.

The deficit can be summed up in the uncomplicated way as to say that the amount of jobs in 2020 (for sectors such as IT, nursing etc.) will far outweigh the amount of professionals in the relevant field in 2020.

With Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer recently praising Canadian immigration on the basis that they have developed immigration policies in line with this trend, does Canada immigration have the edge at the moment in relation to luring this highly valuable labour force to their country?

Canadian immigration policies have certainly made it easier for people to immigrate to Canada; they have introduced a number of immigration practices that currently other countries, especially the US, have yet to emulate.

The question however I am more interested in is can country’s really make themselves more appealing for immigrants or are these things just pre-ordained? I’ll give you an example: Australia is a beautiful country, it’s hot, there are plenty of beaches, and a similar value house will be much larger etcetera etcetera. What can the Australian government do to make it the choice over other countries, apart from make it easier to gain a work visa? I don’t think there is much else.

Another example is the news story that an Australian has been jailed for 4½ years (sorry to pick on Australia), after an attack on an Indian student studying on an Australian visa, again although you can claim a country can crack down on such things, I can’t see governments taking a direct approach purely for immigration purposes.

Considering this and the skills shortage I don’t hold up much hope for the UK’s economic growth. Of course we are in Europe which is a big advantage, although when pitted against countries that have beautiful weather and where you are taxed a lot less, our need for skilled professionals may hit a brick wall. Projections are very hard to have any firm arguments on, although it would be interesting to know figures involving our skills shortages and the projected way the UK government plan to meet those shortages, I can’t help but think the only way will be to pay more for those workers than countries like Canada or the US.

It is, I think, a point that is all to clear to the government, the mechanics of which must be very complicated. Economic growth is dependant on workers to make that happen, if company’s will have to pay those workers more money than other foreign businesses, won’t this make them highly uncompetitive in the global marketplace?

Sure professions like nursing could be subsidised by the government, but there is no way the private sector could be part-funded by government.

So in this day and age where most people are anti-immigration it is a strange modus operandi that governments need to think of any way they can to get workers in the country. This year saw record numbers of people enrolling for degree courses in the UK, perhaps this is the secret method in which the British government aims to plug the holes? Because a strange thought struck me the other day, I’ve never met or even heard of a Canadian that has emigrated to the UK, have you?

Her quandary was whether she would now be allowed back into the US. She went on to explain that she had indeed worked illegally but always with a valid social security number, so had always paid taxes through her stay in the country. It also transpired that her father now lived in the US, and had actually progressed from the US visa he had originally arrived on and was now a US citizen.

In hindsight I think the fact that her father was now a US citizen made her wonder what would have happened if she had gone through the correct channels, she confessed to me that she knew that she certainly wouldn’t be in the situation she found herself now. The lady was desperate to return as she had built up a life for herself in the country and regarded it as the place she called home.

I told her the news that because she had overstayed her original US tourist visa and therefore was illegally in the country, for much more than the standard penalised amount of a year, she would receive an automatic 10 year ban from entering the country. When I explained that because she had left voluntarily made now difference, except to alter the fact that the ban may have been increased to a permanent ban if she had been forcibly removed, she realised that she had made a huge mistake.

This echoes cases of people deported from America every day, over 300,000 a year, who have built up a life for themselves, but were always looking over their shoulder in case Uncle Sam was watching, knowing that eventually the day may come that they would have to explain their situation to US immigration.

So what now for the people that can no-longer return to the place they think of as home? Most will re-settle in their original countries, some more easily than others, what is clear however is that it is not straight-forward in the slightest. US immigration statistics state that a majority of people deported simply try to re-enter the country through the US’s land borders, meaning a whole new can of worms is opened with more added uncertainty and human traffickers entering the equation.

Overstaying your visa is a risky business

Traditionally it is the Mexican border that receives the most column inches in regards to US immigration, with the figures showing that in fact half of the illegal immigrants in this country came in by plane, what hope is there to eradicate illegal US immigration.

The US policy to immigration is draconian to say the least, people found to be in the country illegally are often kept in prison-like complexes until deportation. Quite often these people have established lives for themselves in this country and have legitimate jobs where they pay taxes, ok so those legitimate jobs are obtained deceptively, the fact remains they were contributing to the economy.

The actual act of immigration is never going to be stopped in the US, mainly from under privileged countries, it seems however that a country built on immigration has turned it’s back on the hand that built it and no longer wants to play ball, feeling that it is now fat enough from foreign labor to possibly stomach anymore.

This is in stark contrast to our northern neighbours, Canada, that this week and every month as far as one can remember proposed new plans for the benefit of immigration into the country. Canada is currently seeing more growth and resistance to the recession than any other western country, while seeing some of the highest rates of legal migration.

Criminalising people for wanting a better life for themselves and their family seems a last ditch attempt by our government to hang on to its dated policies on immigration. If people are going to do it anyway, should some new laws be introduced or process be set-up to have some control, or at least structure, in what is meant to be one of the most developed countries in the world?

A person scales a fence at the Mexican border