Rally urges illegal migrant amnesty

The Catholic Church in England and Wales has urged people not to vent their frustration on migrants during the recession as it gave its support to a rally calling for an earned amnesty for thousands of illegal immigrants in the UK.

The Rt Rev Patrick Lynch, auxiliary bishop of Southwark, said the Catholic Church in England and Wales had a long tradition of "standing in solidarity" with workers, especially migrant workers, and he prayed that migrants would not be made "scapegoats" during the economic downturn.

"My first prayer today is that during a time of recession when there will inevitably be job shortages, we as the church will do all we can not to allow migrant workers from within or outside the European Union to become scapegoats and targets of people's frustration with the economy," he told a Mass for migrant workers held at Westminster Cathedral, in central London.

The Mass was being held along with a series of other church services as part of the Strangers into Citizens day of action calling for an estimated 450,000 long-term illegal immigrants to be allowed to become citizens under a one-off "earned amnesty".

To qualify for the proposed measure, illegal immigrants would have to fulfil conditions including residence of at least four years, followed by a two-year "pathway" period, a clean criminal record, good English and character references.

In his sermon, Bishop Lynch said there was a "clear moral case" that undocumented workers who have lived and worked in this country for five years or more should be given the opportunity to build a future in the United Kingdom and continue to contribute to British society.

"You have worked here - your children have been born here and attend school here - you are part of our parishes and our society here and a way should be found so that you can remain here," he told the congregation of different nationalities, some of them in colourful national dress.

In a separate Anglican service held at St Margaret's Church, Westminster Abbey, the Bishop of Southwark, the Rt Rev Tom Butler, backed the Strangers into Citizens campaign. continues here

Amnesty for illegal immigrants

The Strangers into Citizenship campaign is calling for regularisation of some of the UK's illegal immigrants – a humane and practical move

On Monday, as London lies empty in the bank holiday sun, a hidden world will erupt. The capital's immigrant communities, together with members of parishes, schools and charities, MPs and trade unionists, will converge on Parliament Square.About 20,000 people will walk together to Trafalgar Square, holding up a bright orange banner that simply reads: ""Strangers into Citizens".

In the square, those gathered will hear a call for a measure that is practical, humane and of obvious benefit: a Spanish-style regularisation of a portion of the UK's irregular migrants, also known as "a pathway into citizenship" of the sort advocated by Barack Obama.

The idea is supported by people of all political colours: the Conservative mayor of London, the Liberal Democrats, a number of members of cabinet as well as policy institutes of the left, liberals and Conservatives. A one-off, selective regularisation would be simple to do, would pay for itself and the dividends would be great. Yet the very mention of it scares the government, who are anxious for you to know that they are tough on "illegal immigration" and worry that an "amnesty" would send the wrong message.

But let's be clear whom the Strangers into Citizens campaign – backed by Boris Johnson – believes should be regularised. A report out later this month commissioned from the London School of Economics by Johnson estimates there to be 750,000 "irregular migrants" in the UK. Most of these people entered legally, either through the asylum system or on some kind of visa; they would have then fallen into illegality when the immigration rules changed or when, after many years in limbo, their asylum claim failed. The Strangers into Citizens proposal is for a pathway into citizenship for those who have been in the UK for at least six years and who present employer and character references, a clean criminal record and proficiency in English, or have a strong humanitarian case. That would total, says the LSE, about 450,000 people.

All regularisations start from an admission that there is a mismatch between law and reality. According to the law, people who have no right to be here should go home. But people aren't like that. They make new lives, become part of families and communities. Most of those 450,000 are not going home, because their home has moved. The truth that all (including the Home Office) admit yet few are willing to face is this: a mass deportation is both impossible and morally unacceptable. That is why the government's is a bogus policy. The UK Border Agency has increased its forced removal rate to 60,000 per year, at a cost of £11,000 per removal. But it's a drop in the ocean. At this rate it will take 34 years and cost £9bn to remove everybody.

So the real alternative is some form of regularisation – or the status quo, in which a large part of the population lives in a shadow world, as sub-citizens, prone to exploitation, fearful of reporting crimes, undermining the minimum wage, unable to access rights and less likely to fulfil their obligations of paying taxes. A large population outside the law benefits no one.

Regularisation is the humane and practical solution. Combined with border-enforcement measures, such as those the government is bringing in at the moment, and measures to shrink the shadow economy, it helps to deter further illegal immigration. Such is the experience of Spain, which regularised 600,000 people in 2005 as part of a package of reforms which included tighter borders. Numbers entering Spain between 2001 and 2004 were considerably higher than those that have entered since. That's why, in the United States, regularisation is backed by those who favour more restrictive immigration measures. It enables immigration authorities to concentrate on those who intend to break the law rather than those whom the law is breaking.

Spain's regularisation – the fruit of consent between employers, unions and civil society in general – took three months and cost little. Immigrants are generally young, fit, and educated at another country's expense: they are not a burden on the benefits system.

What's left is politics, the nervousness of admitting that immigration policies have not succeeded, and the perception that regularisation in some way undermines legal immigration. But if the government really believed that, they wouldn't have granted leave to remain to thousands of asylum "legacy cases" this past year. The letters these people received informed them they could stay on the grounds of their "long association with the UK" – precisely the Strangers into Citizens argument. continues here

Churches to gather in mass demonstration of support for migrant amnesty

In what is set to be one of the largest ever Christian expressions in the public square, thousands are to attend simultaneous services celebrating the place of migrants before moving to Trafalgar Square to call for citizenship for large numbers of those who have overstayed their visas or been refused asylum.

The Strangers into Citizens ‘Day of Action and Celebration’ on Bank Holiday Monday (4th May) will begin with a series of simultaneous religious services at Westminster Cathedral, Westminster Abbey and Methodist Central Hall in which leaders of the Catholic, Anglican, and Free Churches will celebrate the place of the immigrant in modern Britain.

It is thought to be the first time that Catholic, Anglican and Free Church services have been held simultaneously in Westminster Cathedral, Westminster Abbey and Methodist Central Hall for such a cause.

The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, the Anglican Bishop of Southwark, Tom Butler and the New Testament Church of God leader, Bishop Eric Brown, will be among those leading the services.

The London Citizens community alliance of more than 120 civic institutions – mostly churches, but also including union branches, charities and schools - is behind the rally, which first took place in 2007 with strong backing from leaders of the Catholic and Anglican churches and politicians from all parties. The Archbishop-designate of Westminster, Vincent Nichols, told the campaign in March 2007: “I give my support to this call for regularisation procedures which will give proper legal recognition to those who steadily contribute to our economy. This is what we owe them.”

Since then, the Citizen Organising Foundation’s Strangers into Citizens campaign has persuaded the Liberal-Democrat party and the mayor of London, Boris Johnson, to back its call for a “pathway into citizenship” for some 450,000 out of the total of 750,000 estimated total in the UK.

The Strangers into Citizens Day of Action and Celebration will also bring together Muslims, Chinese, Latin-Americans and people of no faith in an exuberant day of diversity, with live acts including Asian Dub Foundation and The Petebox. Igbo dancers, Brazilian drummers, and Chinese dragons will entertain the crowds.

Some 3,000 are expected to attend the Mass for Migrant Workers st Westminster Cathedral, which will be concelebrated that morning by the three Catholic bishops of London - Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor of Westminster, Archbishop Kevin McDonald of Southwark, and Bishop Michael McMahon of Brentwood.

Another 2,300 will pack the Strangers into Citizens Gospel Service at Methodist Central Hall, hosted by Bishop Eric Brown (NTCG) and Rev. Ermal Kirby (London Methodist).

Meanwhile, 700 people, many of them Zimbabweans, will attend the Strangers into Citizens Service of Prayer and Praise at St Margaret’s in Westminster Abbey, where the Bishop of Southwark, Tom Butler, will be the preacher. There will also be services in Soho (Chinese Outreach Church) and for Latin-American evangelicals in the Fusion Centre at Elephant & Castle. Muslims meeting at central-London mosques will then gather in Trafalgar Square.

The different groups flowing out of the churches will merge with thousands waving Union Flags arriving for the Strangers into Citizens rally at midday in Trafalgar Square, at which 20,000 are expected.

Strangers Into Citizens, which began in 2006 following a call by Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor at the first Mass for Migrant Workers, has been calling for the Government to implement a one-off regularisation measure that would allow refused asylum seekers and visa overstayers who have put down roots in Britain to become legal.

Campaigners argue that strict conditions including residence of at least four years followed by a two-year “pathway” period, a clean criminal record, good English, and character references, should be applied. The London School of Economics estimates that some 450,000 people would be eligible under these conditions.

The Home Office admits the impossibility of forcibly removing an estimated 750,000 visa overstayers and refused asylum seekers. Current deportations run at 30,000 a year.

Critics say that an “earned amnesty” would only encourage more illegal immigrants. But campaigners point to Spain, where levels of illegal immigration have dropped sharply since a one-off regularisation of 700,000 in 2005 was combined with border-tightening measures. continues here