The sad truth of immigration policy

Why would the government create such a policy? Of course, adequate and effective immigration controls are a necessity, especially as the UK has been facing an increase in immigration recently.

However, this specific Tier 2 policy is entirely inappropriate for the following reasons:

1. The threshold is set unreasonably high compared to UK economic standards

2. The fundamental purpose of the policy is not served by the chosen income test

3. Income does not adequately correlate to a workers’ contribution to the UK nor is a person’s level of skill necessarily reflected by their income

We’ve already discussed #1 above, so on to #2.

As reported by the BBC in 2015, "The ‘biggest single factor’ stopping the government achieving its aim of reducing net migration to the tens of thousands was net migration from the EU, [Theresa May] wrote."

This statement would suggest that UK's reason for running a campaign to deport skilled non-EU workers is to counteract the flow of largely unskilled EU immigrants protected by the EU open-door policy. As illustrated by the evidence above, such a 'plan' will only hurt UK society and its economy.

Now on to #3. The UK, by implementing this policy, is declaring that it values its residents based only on their income. It is claiming that a person's value to society and their level of skill can only be measured by their income.

The average registered nurse's annual salary is £21,000, with school teachers earning £21,888. Non-profit workers, who are considered "specialist staff" by their industry standards, earn £23,000 annually.

"It is obvious that a worker's skills and the vital nature of their work, ESPECIALLY in the nursing, teaching and non-profit sectors is not, in fact, reflected by their annual income."

The sad truth is that our society and, currently but not exclusively, the Conservative government has NOT created a system in which the most vital jobs are adequately compensated.

It is an even sadder truth that under this arbitrary income guideline, broad swaths of vital workers are not even considered "highly skilled." As a result of this incongruence, many face deportation.

If nurses, who are the difference between life and death, or teachers who are responsible for the education of generations to come, do not meet their arbitrary income requirement that determines success, who or what jobs could the Conservatives possibly be hoping to protect?

Further blog articles from Alyson coming soon. To help keep her and others in the UK, please DONATE TODAY.