'Illegal immigrant' could be deported...

dirtydog · 15 Jun 2007 at 16:16

dmpoole said:
I didn't know my birth certificate had to be up to date to post in Speakers Corner.

I presume he means immigrants aren't welcome there. I couldn't possibly comment on that myself

"andy" · 15 Jun 2007 at 16:21

Mohinder said:
Yeah, this woman's white.

iBankAllDay · 15 Jun 2007 at 19:17

I'll post here then! Although common sense should clearly prevail, you have to wonder why she never thought of applying for a British passport? She had been working, married and started a family (after already being in the country for so long already) so it would be a formality. I'm sure it would have cost a lot less than £750 too.

Still, you can't blame her for not leaving Arbroath in 78 years. Well, I left 5 years ago as 18 years was long enough for me!

[TR]SweetSpotOz · 15 Jun 2007 at 19:22

dirtydog said:
A woman of 80 who has lived here since she was aged two

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/tayside_and_central/6756341.stm

If only the muppets in charge of immigration were as zealous about deporting real illegal immigrants and failed asylum seekers. Is common sense not a part of the job description?

So it's OK for the UK to accept white Americans but not black Asians? A lot of them bring young children and it's a remarkably similar situation.

dirtydog · 15 Jun 2007 at 19:25

markyp23 said:
So it's OK for the UK to accept white Americans but not black Asians?

[TR]SweetSpotOz · 15 Jun 2007 at 19:26

Well you oppose Indians coming in.

Why do you not oppose Americans coming in?

dirtydog · 15 Jun 2007 at 19:27

You seem to know what my views are better than I do

You must be a very clever person.

G-MAN2004 · 15 Jun 2007 at 19:28

I'd rather live in America anyway.

iBankAllDay · 15 Jun 2007 at 19:28

markyp23 said:
So it's OK for the UK to accept white Americans but not black Asians? A lot of them bring young children and it's a remarkably similar situation.

I'm not sure what point you're trying to make here. Notwithstanding previous posts in other threads by the OP, this thread is about a lady who has lived here for 78 years and has entitlement to British citizenship through her mother and duration of stay. Not to mention her tax contributions and the fact that laws of immigration would have been markedly different when she arrived than they are now. In fact most people were going the opposite way! Had she had gone from Britain to US and not applied for US residency she would have qualified under one of several immigration amnesty's.

dirtydog · 15 Jun 2007 at 19:31

iBankAllDay said:
I'm not sure what point you're trying to make here. Notwithstanding previous posts in other threads by the OP, this thread is about a lady who has lived here for 78 years and has entitlement to British citizenship through her mother and duration of stay. Not to mention her tax contributions and the fact that laws of immigration would have been markedly different when she arrived than they are now. In fact most people were going the opposite way! Had she had gone from Britain to US and not applied for US residency she would have qualified under one of several immigration amnesty's.

Indeed. She came here in 1929 if my maths is correct. Things were a bit different then. Also she is fully entitled to be here because of her British mother.

Killerkebab · 15 Jun 2007 at 19:41

Why is everyone insisting she should have applied for citizenship?

iBankAllDay · 15 Jun 2007 at 19:48

Killerkebab said:
Why is everyone insisting she should have applied for citizenship?

Because without it she can't be a British citizen (as she believed she was)? Clearly she knew she was entitled to one, so it would have been a formality to legalise her residence here. This issue was only flagged up as she attempted to re-enter the country, it was clearly (and perhaps understandably) not something she thought she had to worry about.

The immigration officials were only following the letter of the law, so were not at fault for questioning this issue. Mrs Grimmond is therefore technically the one at 'fault'. However, common sense should prevail and grant her retrospective citizenship. But this situation could have been avoided a long time ago.

[TR]SweetSpotOz · 15 Jun 2007 at 21:54

iBankAllDay said:
I'm not sure what point you're trying to make here.

The point I'm making is nothing to do with this lady just that the OP welcomes ageing white women who provide nothing to this country yet does not welcome anyone who is black and can provide the nation with their skills - Monty Panesar etc.

Gog · 15 Jun 2007 at 22:43

My mother was Scottish, I married a Scottish policeman, my children were all born in Scotland so I assumed I was a Scot too. I wasn't aware that I wasn't a British citizen.

When Mrs Grimmond decided to take her first ever foreign holiday, she went to the American consulate and paid £70 for her passport.

If she thought she was a British Citizen, why did she go to the American consulate for a passport?

I don't blame the Immigration Officer for only giving her four weeks. I'd be a bit suspicious if someone turned up with a recently issued US passport and gave me a story about having lived here for 70-odd years.
Anyway, if it all checks out then she will be granted anyway.

Nash · 15 Jun 2007 at 22:53

dirtydog said:
Since when do you need to present your passport or birth certificate when you get a job?

How do you get a job without a National Insurance card/number (which you need to be a citizen I am pretty sure)?

Spie · 15 Jun 2007 at 22:57

Well dirtydog, I normally agree with many of your posts, but how you can support this woman's right to stay here and yet not support the exceptionally brave Ghurka that risked his life for you and I, winning the VC in the process, is beyond me.

Justintime · 16 Jun 2007 at 00:14

Spie said:
Well dirtydog, I normally agree with many of your posts, but how you can support this woman's right to stay here and yet not support the exceptionally brave Ghurka that risked his life for you and I, winning the VC in the process, is beyond me.

Heh its pretty obvious why.

iBankAllDay · 16 Jun 2007 at 01:09

markyp23 said:
The point I'm making is nothing to do with this lady just that the OP welcomes ageing white women who provide nothing to this country yet does not welcome anyone who is black and can provide the nation with their skills - Monty Panesar etc.

I think it's clear from my posts in the thread about Panesar what what view is of dirtydog's opinion of that matter. However, it is possibly for him to have the stance evident in thread without discriminating, either negatively or positively. Rather he, as others have, can look at it objectively.

Whether he is or not is another matter however.

dirtydog · 16 Jun 2007 at 05:34

Justintime said:
Heh its pretty obvious why.

Is it? If my views on immigration were purely about race then why am I so opposed to the mass immigration of whites from Eastern Europe? Surely I should be happy to support that, after all they're white? Likewise as for the Ghurka, I would have said exactly, precisely the same thing even if he was white. My stance on that issue was nothing whatsoever to do with his race.

Can I just say that I don't want this thread to reignite a ten page debate of the Ghurka issue again, but I'll just add for those who missed it from the other thread; I have the highest respect for Ghurkas as soldiers and I have nothing whatsoever against the Ghurka personally who was refused permission to come here (since granted on appeal). Again it is nothing to do with race. Those looking to find hypocrisy from me on this issue are barking up the wrong tree

Indeed arguably if I did support the Ghurka's right to come here then my views on immigration could be labelled inconsistent.

'Illegal immigrant' could be deported...

Godfather