Non-profit cooperative Corporate Watch published a new report examining what drives UK’s hostile environment policies.
Titled “Who is immigration policy for?” (linked to the full report; a summary is also available), the report dissects the rationale behind the current migrant-hostile policies, which could be traced back to before Theresa May’s administration, to being part of Blair’s legacy. Labour also passed 5 major immigration acts from 1999 to 2009 which expanded the country’s detention and deportation systems.
The report criticised that policies in immigration control are just for show and fails to really control migration, with the measures tied closely to the anti-migrant propaganda media machine. Fact is, the vicious immigration measures are ineffective in controlling immigration. The spectacle of immigration control are targeted to a specific group of voters and media consumers, and part of what the report called an “anxiety engine” which drives politics today. Furthermore, the report pointed out the close relationship between politicians, governments advisors and big media, and that the migrant clampdowns are part of the internal jostle for power.