THE Green Party has urged Scots to “actively resist” the Home Office after tough new immigration measures were announced by Priti Patel.
The Home Secretary revealed plans for a fully digital border to be brought in within five years, which would allow officials to “count people in and count people out” of the country.
This, she said, would provide a “far clearer picture of who is here, and whether they should be” and allow the government to “act when they are not”.
The plans come following demonstrations in Glasgow earlier this month when Immigration Enforcement officers attempted to detain two men in the south of the city.
The Scottish Green’s co-leader Patrick Harvie said people should take similar action in future to prevent the Home Office carrying out its “brutal and inhumane plans”.
However, Ms Patel said the measures were to ensure greater security for the UK’s borders during a keynote speech at a think-tank conference yesterday morning.
She explained: “Those who play by the rules and seek to come to our country legally will encounter a system that is straightforward and fair.”
She said the system would work for the “law-abiding majority” and against those who seek to “abuse our hospitality and generous spirit”.
The American-style Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) system announced yesterday will require visitors to the UK to obtain an electronic permit before travelling. It will be required by anyone without a visa or immigration status, except for Irish citizens.
The UK Government has vowed to have it implemented by the end of 2025.
Ms Patel said there needed to be “wholesale reform” of the immigration system in the UK, adding: “Anything short of that would not be fair, would not keep our country safe, and would not meet the demands of the British people I serve.”
She said: “They want a new system that works for the law-abiding majority and against those who hope to abuse our hospitality and generosity.
“One that welcomes those most in need of sanctuary and slams the door on dangerous criminals.
“Our immigration system is broken and we will fix it.”
The plans would cut ways of entering the country illegally to crack down on people smugglers, Ms Patel said, adding: “We are coming after these gangs”, reiterating plans for them to “face the full force of the law” with tougher sentences.
Along with demonstrations against the attempted removal of two men in Glasgow earlier this month, concerns have also been raised about a dawn raid at the end of April which left a man in hospital, and about the standard of accommodation being used to house vulnerable asylum seekers in the city throughout the pandemic.
Enforcement officers went to a home in the north of the city on April 23, with a 67-year-old man collapsing as a result of the action.
He was taken to hospital and was forced to phone a charity for help to get home as he had no means to travel himself.
Patrick Harvie, co-leader of the Scottish Greens, said Scots should be encouraged to “actively resist” the Home Office’s measures.
He said: “The people of Glasgow have had enough of the institutionally racist Home Office operating its brutal and inhumane immigration regime in our city.
“As has been shown in recent days they will no longer stand by and watch their vulnerable neighbours cruelly snatched from their homes.
“The Home Secretary claims this is what the British public voted for. Well it’s certainly not what the Scottish or Glaswegian public voted for.”
He said that until Scotland was able to “build our own system, we can continue to resist the brutality of the Home Office” adding: “We must resource our communities, so they are able to actively resist, and support those organisations who are operating on the front line to support asylum seekers, refugees and all migrants in our community.”
The SNP’s immigration spokeswoman Anne McLaughlin hit out at Ms Patel’s plans, saying “Scotland absolutely did not vote for these cruel immigration raids or any of the other toxic Tory migration policies”.
She said Scots wanted a “humane migration and asylum system that works for Scotland based on fairness, dignity and respect.”
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