Thousands of protesters braved the bank holiday rain today in London’s Trafalgar Square to call on the Government to regularise the estimated 700,000 illegal immigrants living in the UK.

The Mayday march from Westminster Cathedral was organised by ‘Strangers into Citizens ‘, supported by a coalition of migrant groups, unions and churches.

Speakers addressing the peaceful crowd included: Bishop Eric Brown, Bishop Thomas McMahon (RC Bishop of Brentwood) Bishop Tom Butler (Anglican Bishop of Southwark), Rev Ermle Kirby (Methodist Church), Senior Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg (New North London Synagogue), union leader Jack Dromey and many others.

Prospective MEP candidate in the European Elections (4 June 2009) Gene Alcantara joined the march, which passed Parliament and 10 Downing Street, and afterwards talked to a number of groups.

The consistent message coming from the platform speakers is that regularising undocumented migrants is not only the right and humane thing to do, but also makes economic sense.

According to research carried out by the leading think tank ’ippr’, finding and deporting 700,000 undocumented immigrants would cost over £5 billion and take up to 20 years.

However, legalizing those same people and turning them into taxpayers and useful members of society will benefit the UK to the tune of over £4 billion.

As Gene Alcantara put it:

“There is a clear business case for legalizing the hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants already here which would in turn help the Government secure our borders.

“These people are here to stay so why not allow them to live their lives with dignity and contribute to society?”

Ironically the Governemt is currently introducing legislation which will make it more difficult for legal migrants to become British citizens.

The Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill, which is expected to become law this year will deny thousands of legal workers the chance to settle in the UK. 

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Charles gives 'thumbs up' to Chinese migrant group at Mayday rally, London

Charles Kelly and Gene Alcantara at migrant rally 2009

Boris Johnson said that deporting thousands of people working illegally in the UK was “just not going to happen”.

He told Channel 4 News that allowing long-term illegal immigrants to earn the right to stay would see “hugely increased” tax revenues.

But Immigration Minister Phil Woolas, who recently broke the party line by calling for an overall cap on immigration, said the suggestion was “naive” and would lead to more trafficking of people.

Mr Woolas said:

“I think this is naive of the Mayor. His comments might start with the best of intentions but will lead to more people traffickers making more money and exploiting more vulnerable individuals.”

Of the 700,000 illegal immigrants thought to be in the UK, about 400,000 are in London.

Mr Johnson said:

“What I want to do is to commission a study by my own economics team here at the Greater London Authority into the possibility [of an amnesty].”

“We want to look in detail at what the economic impact of such an earned amnesty system would be.”

The outspoken Mayor acknowledge that illegal immigrants who had broken the law and should “in principle” be deported, but he added: “Unfortunately it is just not going to happen.”

Mr Johnson said that whilst he did not want to encourage illegal immigration, there were significant legal and financial obstacles to mass deportations.

He suggested that those allowed to stay would have to have at least five years’ residency. They must also be able to demonstrate their commitment “to this society and to this economy”.

He added:

“There’s got to be a very substantial period in which they have been in this country.

“I think that we could have other hoops that they might have to go through in order to be able to qualify for an earned amnesty scheme.

“For instance, it might be necessary to have a clean criminal record. It might be important that they should go through various citizenship tests, the kind we already have.

“And there might be some sort of financial obligations that they have to meet as well.”

Migrationwatch UK said the proposal was “amazing” with a recession looming.

Chairman Sir Andrew Green said: “An amnesty would also add hundreds of thousands to the housing lists.”

Mr Woolas said the UK Border Agency was committed to stopping illegal migration.

“We are putting in place the biggest shake-up of the immigration system for 45 years and we are seeing the results of this.”

He added: “We are putting more resources into expelling foreign law breakers and last year we removed one person every eight minutes.”

Comment

The announcement will not please Mr Johnson’s own Conservative party which, like Mr Woolas, favours a cap on immigration.

There are some 500,000 and 700,000 illegal immigrants living in Britain, some of whom have been found working in the Home Office. The Home Office has estimated it would take more than 30 years to deport them all – by which time many would have applied to stay under the 14 year concession.

Last year the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) claimed it would cost £4.7 billion to remove all of the illegal immigrants in the UK.

The Government has yet to come up with a workable solution to this problem, but has always ruled out a wholesale amnesty for illegal immigrants.UK ‘outside the rules’.

With an election looming and Labour down in the polls, a full amnesty for illegal immigrants and overstayers looks an unlikely prospect. More likely are ‘concessions’, such as the 1998 Domestic Workers Concession, which may allow certain groups to remain in the

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See also:

Life as an Illegal Immigrant – BBC reporters spend months undercover with illegal immigrants in Southall