ILR rules for migrants: Plans to make migrants wait longer to get the right to live in the UK permanently should not apply to people already in the country, Labour MPs have said. Labour MPs tell Mahmood not to change the restrictions for migrants who are already in the UK.
Labour MPs said that those who are currently in the UK should not have to wait longer to gain the right to live there permanently.
Thirty-five Labour MPs, 17 from other parties, 21 peers, and 33 civil society groups sent a letter to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood saying that the proposals are “unfair to migrant workers who have put down roots, contributed to their communities, and built lives here.”
Ministers plan to make it take twice as long for most immigrants to get permanent residency, going from five years to ten years.
Mahmood has defended the proposals, claiming that the “unprecedented” amount of individuals coming to the UK needs a reaction from the government.
Settlement, which is also called indefinite leave to remain, lets a person live, work, and study in the UK for as long as they like and apply for benefits if they qualify.
The government’s suggested modifications would make the normal wait time for settlement 10 years longer.
Migrants who earn a lot of money, for example, will be able to shorten this time, while other groups will have to wait longer.
anybody who came to the UK on health and social care visas would have to wait 15 years, while anybody who had been on benefits for more than a year would have to wait 20 years.
The amendments would not affect persons who currently have settled status, but they would affect people who are already living in the UK, including those who were hoping to receive permanent residency in the next several months.
The government says that migrants who come to the UK must do something to earn their right to stay since the number of migrants is putting stress on local communities.
However, Labour MPs who don’t like the ideas have called the retrospective approach “un-British” and “moving the goalposts.”
The letter, which is also signed by Andrea Egan, the new president of Unison, the UK’s largest trade union, reads, “The British public believes in fair play: if you work hard, follow the rules, and contribute, the government should not interfere with your life.”
It goes on to say, “The proposals to change settlement rules would pull the rug out from under migrant workers, including those who work in social care and provide dignity and comfort to our loved ones, often in difficult conditions and for low pay.”The government has to keep its promises; we can’t just change the rules in the middle of an agreed-upon procedure.
The letter says that there are currently thousands of open positions in social care and that the measures “risk pushing the sector closer to breaking point.”
It asks the government to “immediately rule out applying new immigration rules to migrant families already in the UK” and for the consultation process on the plans, which ends on Thursday, to be put on hold until a complete impact assessment is made public.
Most of the Labour MPs who signed the letter are on the left side of the party. Neil Duncan-Jordan, the MP for Poole, organised it. He has called on the prime minister to quit over the Lord Mandelson issue.
Other people who signed include Alex Sobel, a key member of the centre-left Mainstream group, John McDonnell, a former shadow chancellor, and Rachael Maskell, who spearheaded a rebellion against benefit cuts last year.
The letter was also signed by Jeremy Corbyn, the former leader of the Labour Party, Liz Saville Roberts, the leader of Plaid Cymru in Westminster, and all four Green Party MPs.
Labour MPs are becoming more worried about the plans, with almost 40 of them speaking out against them in a recent debate in Parliament.