In a letter published in the Times (paywall), 90 leading civil society organisations, university lecturers and lawyers set out grave criticism of the government’s immigration bill.

Published ahead of the second reading of the Immigration Bill the letter raises concerns about measures to hand over new powers to immigration officials which will seriously undermine the central principles of liberty and freedom.

Full text:

THREAT TO LIBERTY

The PM continues to claim he will deliver his promise to cut net migration to tens of thousands. The new immigration bill, currently before Parliament, is a blunt tool which will fail again and worse still, contains draconian measures that will affect every single person.

It will undermine and erode the rights and civil liberties, not just of those migrants here without leave, but also of settled migrant communities. Any British Citizen unable to immediately provide papers or who falls victim to a mistake by the authorities will be affected too.

The Bill allows largely unaccountable immigration officials powers to enter and search property, in some cases even without a warrant, to seize items and to close down businesses. We have a proud tradition of policing by consent and these are sweeping powers we would hardly dream of giving the police dealing with even serious crimes.

Ordinary people will be forced to act as immigration officers or face prosecution, fines or prison if they do not. They will have to act on information provided by the notoriously error prone and underfunded Home Office. With the removal of many appeal rights, cuts to legal aid, and severe delays in the courts, remedies for the inevitable mistakes will be illusory.

We must not undermine the long held and central principle of British liberty, that homes and people should not be subjected to searches and interference by the authorities without proper evidence and due process. This Bill will make such interferences a daily occurrence.

• Don Flynn, Director, Migrants Rights Network
• Maurice Wren, Director, Refugee Council
• Emma Scott, Director, Rights of Women
• Edie Friedman, Executive Director, Jewish Council for Racial Equality
• Bridget Anderson, Research Director, COMPAS – University of Oxford
• Canon Steven Saxby, St Barnabas Church
• Dr Aidan McQuade, Director, Anti-Slavery International
• Bharat Mehta OBE, Chief Executive, Trust for London
• Pragna Patel, Director, Southall Black Sisters
• Baroness Shas Sheehan of Wimbledon and Tooting, Liberal Democrats
• Patrick Yu, Executive Director, Northern Ireland Council for Ethnic Minorities
• Neal Lawson, Chair, COMPASS
• Saira Grant, Director, Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants
• Jabeer Butt, Deputy Chief Executive, Race Equality Foundation
• Alison Gelder, Chief Executive, Housing Justice
• Sally Daghlian OBE, CEO, Praxis
• Lisa Matthews, Co-ordinator, Right to Remain
• Eiko Thielemann, Director, LSE – Migration Studies Unit
• Sue Willman, Partner, Deighton Pierce Glynn
• Adam Hundt, Partner, Deighton Pierce Glynn
• Dr John R Campbell, Reader, School of Oriental & African Studies
• Rita Chadha, CEO, RAMFEL
• Dr Barbara E. Harrell-Bond, Co-director, Rights in Exile
• Dr. Thanos Zartaloudis, Senior Lecturer in Law, Kent Law School
• Helen Hibberd, Director, Hackney Migrant Centre
• Sharon Cowan, Director of Research for the Law School, University of Edinburgh
• Judy Fudge, Professor, Kent Law School
• Steve Hynes, Director, Legal Action Group
• Ben Alcraft, Trustee, Action for Refugees in Lewisham
• Ali McGinley, Director, Association of Visitors to Immigration Detainees
• Paul Dudman, Archivist, Refugee Council Archive at UEL
• Richard Williams, Independent Consultant, Brighton
• Dr Monish Bhatia, Lecturer in Criminology, Abertay University
• Nicholas Nicol, Barrister, 1 Pump Court
• Nando Sigona, Deputy Director of the Institute for Research into Superdiversity, University of Birmingham
• Dr. Elaine Dewhurst, Senior Lecturer in Law , University of Manchester
• Dean Wilson, Professor, University of Sussex
• Kate Smart, Director, Asylum Welcome
• Sheona York, Clinic solicitor and Reader in Law, University of Kent
• Clifton Robinson, Chief Executive , Housing Diversity Network
• Matthew Evans, Director, The AIRE Centre
• Colin Yeo, Barrister, Garden Court Chambers
• Carlos Cruz, Co-ordinator, United Migrant Workers Education Project (UMWEP)
• Andy Gregg, CEO, Race on the Agenda
• Denise McDowell, Director, Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit
• Sarah Crowther, Director, REAP
• Mostafa Rajaai, International Students’ Officer, National Union of Students
• Hazel Williams, Director, Asylum Support Appeals Project
• Abi Brunswick, Director, Project 17
• Clare Jennings, Solicitor, Matthew Gold and Co. Ltd
• Giulia Tranchina, Solicitor, Wilson Solicitors LLP
• Wayne Myslik, Chief Executive, Asylum Aid
• Dermot Bryers, CEO, English for Action
• Sally Causer, Director, Southwark Law Centre
• Suzanne Fletcher, Chair, Liberal Democrats for Seekers of Sanctuary
• Oleg Pasichnyi, Co-rodinator, Ukrainian Migrants Network
• Sue Lukes, independent consultant, London
• Caroline Sorbier, Head of casework and advocacy, Body & Soul
• Eva Mayor, Chair, Kanlungan, Filipino Consortium
• Rafael Joseph Maramag, Secretary, Campaign for Human Rights in the Philippines
• Phoebe Dimacali, Chair, Filipino Domestic Workers Association
• Nidesma Bibal De Castro, Chief Executive, Bahay Kubo Housing Association
• Nuno Ferreira, Senior lecturer on law, University of Liverpool
• Steve Green, Trustee, BritCits
• Áine O’Brien, Co-Director, Counterpoints Arts
• Rosario Guimba-Stewart, Director, Lewisham Refugee and Migrant Network
• Eleonore Kofman, Professor, Middlesex University
• Helena Wray, Associate Professor in Law, Middlesex University
• Nazek Ramadan, Director, Migrant Voice
• Zrinka Bralo, Executive Director, Migrant and Refugee Forum
• Phillip Cooper, Acting Co-ordinator, Hammersmith and Fulham Refugee Forum
• Lilian Seenoi, Executive  Director, North West Migrants Forum
• Leila Taleb, Co-ordinator, JUST West Yorkshire
• Maria Houlihan, Managr, Asylum Support Housing Advice
• Kristyene Boreland, Chair, Black and Ethnic Minority Women’s Network
• Dr Zibiah Alfred Loakthar, Chair, Community Language Support Services
• Nicholas Sagovsky, Steering Group Member, Churches Refugee Network
• Valerie Simanowitz, Committee Member, Lewes Group in Support of Refugees and Asylum Seekers
• Iyiola Solanke, Senior Lecturer, University of Leeds  
• Paul Dillane, Executive Director, UK Lesbian & Gay Immigration Group
• Hannah Lewis, Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow, University of Sheffield
• Ian Rathbone, Chair, Hackney Community Law Centre
• Peter Hall, Co-ordinator, Croydon Refugee Day Centre
• Ruth Hayes, Director, Islington Law Centre
• Matt Foot & Rhona Friedman, Co-funders, Justice Alliance
• Rachael Despicht, Solicitor, Birnberg Peirce & Partners
• Arten Llazari, CEO, Refugee and Migrant Centre, Black Country
• Nic Eadie, Director, Gatwick Detainees Welfare Group  
• Kate Roberts, Head of Policy, Kalayaan
• Owen Tudor, Head of EU and International Relations Department, TUC

This  piece first appeared on Migrants’ Rights Network’s website: http://www.migrantsrights.org.uk/news/2015/90-civil-society-organisations-university-lecturers-and-lawyers-criticise-immigration-bill.