My look back at immigration stuff in 2019 and look ahead to 2020. 1/?
Windrush was the defining event of 2018. Politicians, press and public are now more aware of what the hostile environment is and perhaps of immigration history. But lessons learned review unpublished, no compensation payments, the true victims virtually disregarded.
EU Settlement Scheme will be defining event of 2020. At first blush appears to have gone relatively smoothly. But many EU citizens will not apply even though eligible and will become unlawfully resident. And…
…many people granted pre settled status will fail to apply for or qualify for settled status and will then be forced to leave or be unlawful. Six continuous months of absence normally makes you ineligible for settled status.
Six Supreme Court judgments on immigration, which I think is a record. I don’t talk about the Court of Appeal. It’s best that way. The Upper Tribunal has degenerated into navel gazing procedural ramblings. Law Commission says it will report in early 2020 on simplification.
Refugees continue needlessly to drown and die. The 39 who died horribly in a lorry here in the UK have not changed a thing. These deaths are the price our societies in Europe are willing to pay to keep people out. 
In 2020 we’ll presumably see more detail about the “Australian style Points Based System” which will probably involve minor changes to our existing points based system. I imagine some re-titling, so perhaps language of “tiers” will go (if so, good riddance).
Students and Tier 5 temporary workers might be taken outside the points based nomenclature. They never really on points anyway, so no big deal. We COULD see a new genuine points route based on skills/qualifications/experience but I doubt it.
Big change will be end of free movement and introduction of temporary tied work visas. This is a Very Bad Idea. Encourages employer abuse, adds to unauthorised population and is just downright exploitative of those migrants and their labour. But it probably won’t happen in 2020.
Finally, we had a big year on Free Movement the website, with nearly 3 million page views. There’s huge demand for information about immigration, and sadly government policy will only increase that demand.
Tweets based on more detailed blog post here: freemovement.org.uk/free-movement-…
