On 10 October the UK government introduced the Immigration Bill 2013 in the House of Commons. Secretary of State for the Home Department, Theresa May said the Bill is intended to create a “hostile environment’ for undocumented migrants.
The Bill includes provisions intended to:
- Increase the likelihood of detection of undocumented migrants. Provisions include a requirement that private landlords check the immigrant status of prospective tenants, increased obstacles for undocumented migrants who wish to open UK bank accounts and the introduction of immigration status checks before driving licenses are issued.
- Reduce the number of grounds of appeal relating to immigrant status from 17 to 4.
- Extend the number of non-suspensive appeals. “Non-suspensive appeal” means there is no right to appeal from within the UK. Where there is no risk of “serious irreversible harm”, immigrants with criminal records will be deported without awaiting the outcome of appeals.
- Temporary migrants such as students will pay a contribution to the NHS.
Commenting on the Bill, Immigration Minister Mark Harper MP said “The Immigration Bill will stop migrants abusing public services to which they are not entitled, reduce the pull factors which draw illegal immigrants to the UK and make it easier to remove people who should not be here. We will continue to welcome the brightest and best migrants who want to contribute to our economy and society and play by the rules. But the law must be on the side of people who respect it, not those who break it.”
In the same week, the EU Commission published a study contradicting the widely held belief that “benefits tourism” is a major drive of migration. It revealed that EU citizens from other Member States do not use welfare benefits more intensively than their host country counterparts and are less likely to receive disability and unemployment benefits. The study also found that the vast majority of EU citizens who move to another EU country do so to work.
In response to the EU Commission's findings, a spokesperson for the Prime Minister said that there were “ important concerns around fairness of access to public services, such as healthcare and housing, which the government was addressing through the Immigration Bill...” and that the Department of Health would be investigating the impact of migration on the NHS.
Click here to view a press release about the EU Commission study.
Click here to view a UK Government press briefing in response to the EU Commission.
Click here to read a UK Government factsheet about the new Bill.