By Ben Kerrigan-
Boris Johnson’s Strong message to foreign criminals is that the Uk has enough criminals of its own and is not prepared to keep any more.
Johnson’s spokesman said: “We make no apology whatsoever for seeking to remove dangerous foreign criminals” . Johnson has long made clear that he is taking a zero tolerance against crime. The home office is one of his weapons in doing so. The rhetoric from Downing Street when talking about Brexit and its immigration stance has been to allow the best foreign scientists and doctors into the Uk. Along this train of thought is the idea to remove foreign nationals who constitute a nuisance to the Uk.
There has been much noise about the decision to deport those who have been in the Uk from a young age but deported for committing atrocious crimes. Downing Street’s answer to that would be that the terms of their stay in the Uk was to be law abiding citizens and not commit criminal offences. There also isn’t much faith in the success of rehabilitation since most criminals re-offend.
BBC Newsnight has followed the cases of some of those deported. Mr Crawford for instance was convicted 10 times for 22 offences including burglary, yet he thinks because he has been in the Uk since was 12 and has been rehabilitated he should be allowed to remain in the Uk.
He has a wife of 14 years and two children, but the almost career criminal is not conducive to the Uk. Mr.Crawford says he has done his time and questions the extra punishment against him through deportation. He does not understand that deportation is not in this sense a punishment, but rather a declaration that offenders who have no legal right to remain in the Uk are not welcome by the Home Office.
His best argument rests on sympathy for his situation not on any strong grounds of injustice. Foreigners with no legal right to remain in the United Kingdom who commit criminal offences should face the consequences of their actions. Britain has enough criminal of its own without adding to it others from outside. Making comparisons with the Windrush generation are worthless and imbalanced when talking of serious criminals who are a danger to society.
In the case of a young teenager caught with class A drugs at the age of 17 who has been in the country from a young age, the analysis changes a bit. Tajay Thompson is one of those facing deportation to Jamaica having served half of a 15-month sentence in 2015 after being convicted of possessing class A drugs with intent to supply at 17.
He has been in the Uk since the age of five and would appear to at least deserve a warning. On Thursday, he told reporters: ‘I feel like I was born here. Jamaica is not my country.’ He insisted he was groomed into a gang as a teenager.
Apart from cases like mr.Thompson, foreigners convicted of a serious crime who have served up to 12 months in jail are liable to be considered for deportation according to home office rules. They are fair enough and the British government is simply sending a strong message to criminals of all types. Boris Johnson recently set up legislation to force all those convicted of terrorist offences to serve the full term of their offences and serve at least 14 years in prison,
Legitimate issues surrounding detention, especially those about torture survivors and people with mental health problems who were detained too often and for too long deserve review. That’s a separate matter to be looked at properly.