Who is an Immigrant?

The HMB poll on Facebook is showing that ‘immigration’ continues to be one of the hottest topics in the 2015 General Election.

All the main political parties have been pushing for radically lowering the immigrant numbers in order to attract voters. The Conservatives and UKIP in particular wanting to reduce the numbers in tens of thousands. The Labour Party which is seen as more liberal on immigration too realises that immigration issue has to be dealt with. Ed Miliband wants all new immigrants to be able to speak English in his party’s attempt to show that Labour is not soft on immigration.

According to a recent YouGov/Sunday Times poll, 3 in 4 people would like to see reduced immigration. In various polls immigration is seen as the most critical issue placing higher than healthcare and economy.

Immigration has become a highly complex issue. A few years ago the non-white faces outside the European Union (EU) hit the news headlines. Nowadays it is the EU open borders that attracts the new wave of European immigration.

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), last year there was net migration to Britain of 298,000, the highest level since 2005. As the Government cannot control the free movement of EU citizens, it has made it much harder for non EU citizens to enter the UK by introducing strict a visa regime. This inevitably leads to a race dimension.

Once in Britain, many immigrants face hardships. Many who have assimilated and have made Britain their home often feel that they are still treated as outsiders. When does an immigrant stop being an immigrant, or will they always be labelled as immigrants?

The new generation of people born in the UK whose parents are immigrants too often feel that they are still labelled as immigrants. Many see the colour of their skin, or their faith, or accent – or anything that stands apart from the norm as a key contributor to their segregation.

And adding further to this twist, there are the immigrants who’ve settled in Britain, who now do not want new immigrants coming here – it has become a moral dilemma.

The immigration debate continues and it could make or break some of the political parties in the General Election. You can have your say by visiting the HMB Facebook page. Or perhaps immigration is not a hot potato for you and you may see the economy or vegetarianism as the big issue – please go to the Facebook page and enter the HMB poll.