Thread by @minnierahman

Anti-deportation campaigners need to get real smart real quick. Patel is now considering deporting people with 6 month convictions. That’s petty theft, cannabis, minor offences like fraud. thetimes.co.uk/article/priti-…

In the context of #BlackLivesMatter and #windrush - the government response is to make it easier to deport people whose rights are being violated.

We need to work on this together - we cannot let this take place without a fight. Anyone who works on migrants rights, criminal justice reform, decriminalisation and a fair legal system needs to stand against this.

This is a two tier criminal justice system. Double punishment for people who live here, work here, have family here. One mistake punished twice. A lifetime in the UK overlooked because you smoked a joint or stole a purse. Rehabilitation no longer a consideration.

Patel is doing this a direct response to both successful campaigning and as a response to an incoherent strategy from activists so far. They know it will piss us off, they know they can do it. But the public can stop this if we make the right arguments.

Communities who will be most affected need to be centered and platformed. Journos need to start showing the kind of ppl who would be deported under these rules.

MPs need to ask the Government for evidence that this will resolve any of the issues they claim it will and that this is in public interest. It is not.

Unlike wave machines and jet skis - this feels like a real threat to me. Patel at her most lethal and maniacal.

Let’s be really fucking clear - Patel claims she is doing this for victims of crime. 6 month sentences often do not have victims or can be rehabilitated to stop further crimes. That’s why the sentence is low. Who is she doing this for?

And if there are severely traumatised victims - she is saying her criminal justice system doesn’t protect them and only the immigration system Either way, she’s plastering over her own failures by using migrants as political football.