Priti Patel, UK Home Secretary, is convinced that the demands of the British people will only be met by carrying out a radical reform of the immigration system that “slams the door in the face of all those dangerous criminals” who try to cross the border. A border that the Conservative Party opened when it needed a workforce and has now managed to close it by flying the Brexit flag. Within the framework of that exit from the European Union that was consummated on January 1, and after the first friction with Brussels over the way in which community citizens have been treated, the Government of Boris Johnson has presented today more details about a new immigration plan that has been criticized even by the United Nations.
Thus, Patel, who gave a speech this morning at the conservative British Future forum, begins to carry out this “reform at all levels” with which he has been threatening for some time, and which supposes the achievement of the “hostile environment” against the immigrants sponsored by Theresa May at the beginning of the last decade. To achieve this, the Minister of the Interior has opted to create a model similar to the US Electronic Travel Authorization (ESTA), that is, “a purely digital border” that is also intended to be “the most effective globally”.
Among other things, the use of technology will make it possible to carry out a detailed study of how many people enter the country, how many leave, their race or their origin, and, among other things, may require that non-EU visitors arriving to the country pay around 10 euros to pay for security at the border and the necessary criminal controls, although the figure has not yet been confirmed. EU citizens, for their part, must request a visa through the European Travel Information and Authorization System, which will cost around 7 euros and will last three years or until the holder's passport expires.. These measures will be implemented by the end of 2025.
“This way we will know better who is here, if they should be able to be and, if not, act,” Patel pointed out during his speech.. “This is something that many other countries currently have and can also carry out preliminary checks. It is very important for our border security and to better understand who is coming to the UK.”
At the beginning of the month, and after presenting more details about the new immigration system, the United Nations strongly criticized the plan presented by Patel to deport asylum seekers who had previously passed through a safe country before arriving in the United Kingdom, ensuring that Decisions like this question the “global credibility” of the country ruled by Boris Johnson.
The climate that is breathed right now inside the Home Office is not transferred, however, only to the borders, but also at street level. Earlier this month, for example, Lakhvir Singh and Sumit Sehdev, two foreigners who have lived in the UK for more than ten years, were detained in a van for more than eight hours in an attempt to deport them.. Only the neighborhood action, which came to surround the vehicle to immobilize it, could prevent it.
Asked about it, Patel, far from avoiding the subject, has insisted on his strategy. “For too long we've been frustrated that we can't take action against those who take advantage of the system, so I just want to say to those who disrupt the work of agents when it comes to deporting immigrants that they may be protecting murderers, rapists or criminals high level. So yes, of course we are going to continue doing that kind of thing, because the truth is that it is what the British people have voted for, and, therefore, that means that it is what they want us to do”, has defied the conservative minister. “We're not going to let this kind of thing happen again, and underestimating public concern about this kind of thing is monstrous.. Stop”.
For her, who believes that the previous immigration system was “broken”, what the people of the United Kingdom want is “a new one that works when it comes to acting against that great majority that breaks the law and abuses our hospitality and our spirit of generosity”. “The system may be broken, but the country is not, and the truth is that we are not going to change things overnight, but we are going to do it. We have to make it reflect what the vast majority of Britons of all colors and creeds think, which is to say that it is fair, but at the same time strong,” said Patel, who believes that the strong results of the 2019 elections legitimize any “comprehensive reform” proposed.