,
20 tweets,
3 min read
Read on Twitter
1 This Home Office claim has no legal basis & opens door to fear & administrative chaos. It's foolish & should be withdrawn @AmberRuddHR
2 1000s of EU & EEA citizens hold permanent residence cards issued by Home Office. It's the most secure legal status they can have.
3 000s of non-EU citizens who are family of EU citizens have permanent residence cards - it's the only way they guarantee their status.
4 Home Office doesn't know what validity perm res cards will have after Brexit - because the post-Brexit law hasn't been made yet.
5 Parliament hasn't even given Home Office power to make rules for EU cits after Brexit - its still debating the EU Withdrawal Bill.
6 So Home Office has no legal basis to tell public what the status of EU permanent residence cards will be after Brexit. There's no law.
7 If Home Office cancels all EU permanent residence cards on day UK leaves EU, chaos could follow for citizens, employers, officials.
8 invalidating EU residence cards at Brexit leaves those EU citizens & family with no proof of acquired rights.
9 HO threat to invalidate is opposite to what UK & EU cits needs - calm managed transition to Brexit. And it's completely avoidable.
10 HO *should* be telling EU27 that UK will maintain validity of all UK-issued documentation until replaced automatically or on application.
11 Why is HO doing this? 2 theories. A: discourage applications for PR cards now. This would be illegal + politically & practically harmful
12 for HO to aim to deter EU cits & fam members seeking docs under EU law violates duty to implement EU law fully & in good faith
13 To claim - mid-negotiation - that EU docs will be invalidated at Brexit will (rightly) anger EU27 leaders @GuyVerhofstadt & @JunckerEU
14 (Imagine if EU were claiming now British citizens perm residence docs in Spain & France will be automatically invalidated on Brexit!)
15 HO should be encouraging EU cits entitled to PR to be applying now - to avoid mass applications just before / after Brexit.
16 (Don't @ me that HO is putting ppl off because a simplified system will come with Brexit. Nothing stops HO simplifying now.)
17 Why is HO making this threat? Theory part B: to increase hostile environment v EU cits.
18 Is it what Rudd wants? Or is it May's long-reach into HO? Remember how HO changed policy to threaten "ordinary" EU cits with deportation?
19 Still no explan of "mistake" that led to individualised formal decisions ordering 100 EU cits to leave UK
20 Rudd needs to take visible control of her department's actions & statements about EU cits & fit them to UK promises to EU. Quickly. //
