
I was forcibly deported from the UK like a terrorist, restrained and under guard - azuajef
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/mar/02/irene-clennell-deported-uk-terrorist
======
neaden
Some more backstory from another article: "The government’s spousal visa
system requires the British partner to prove earnings of at least £18,600 and
the couple being able to show long stretches of uninterrupted time living in
the UK.

Clennell lost her leave to remain as the time she spent out of the country
when her parents were dying was too long. She has made repeated attempts – in
Singapore and back in the UK – to reapply for permission to live with her
husband."[0]

Has this been a big story over there? It seems excessively cruel to deport a
woman who recently lost her parents and has a sick husband.

[0] [https://www.theguardian.com/uk-
news/2017/feb/26/grandmother-...](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-
news/2017/feb/26/grandmother-deported-from-uk-despite-being-married-to-briton-
for-27-years)

~~~
hackuser
> It seems excessively cruel ...

And does not benefit the public in any way, but in fact harms it.

------
blibble
the BBC article lists the facts, which the Guardian chose to omit:

[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39099574](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39099574)

\- given indefinite leave in 1992 to remain in the UK after her marriage - but
this lapsed because she lived outside the UK for more than two years

\- came back to the UK several times for short visits. She lived in the UK in
2003 until January 2005 and says that during this time she made numerous
applications for leave to remain, which were all rejected [overstay]

\- Mrs Clennell eventually entered the UK in 2013 and made two applications
for leave to remain - both were rejected, as was her final application in 2016
[overstay]

\- "... speaking to the BBC's Fiona Walker from the Scottish detention centre,
she said: "I knew that when I got indefinite leave to remain I can't stay
outside of the country for more than two years. "But then my husband was with
me, he came to live with me for five years in Singapore."

this is a textbook case of someone playing the system, including overstaying
on a tourist visa several times

~~~
pmiller2
>this is a textbook case of someone playing the system, including overstaying
on a tourist visa several times

Sure, but what civilized nation requires someone with a spouse and children
who are citizens to get a visa in the first place? Surely that should
automatically qualify one for at least permanent resident status.

~~~
BeetleB
>Sure, but what civilized nation requires someone with a spouse and children
who are citizens to get a visa in the first place?

The US?

Reminds me of the Syrian American guy I met. He was a US citizen who moved to
Syria in the early 2000's. Got married there and had kids. Then when the civil
war occurred, he returned to the US, but could not bring his family.

His kids were US citizens, but he had never done the paperwork. So he set
about doing it. Before too long they could enter the US.

But his wife? That's not "automatic". Even though her husband and kids were US
citizens, she had to go through the whole motions of applying, etc. Not
allowed to come visit the US in the interim. As a result, his kids did not
come to the US - they couldn't leave her alone.

~~~
refurb
_but he had never done the paperwork_

Sounds like he dropped the ball.

~~~
jakobegger
A bit of compassion for someone fleeing the war would be appropriate.

------
coldcode
Deporting someone does not have to involve sadism. But clearly the immigration
people in both the US and UK seem to be sadists. You can treat people like
human beings no matter who they are.

------
amalag
The USA rules are interesting for this. If you marry a non-US spouse you will
not have these problems. You cannot BRING a spouse or fiancé to the US without
the minimum financial requirements. But once they are in the country one (like
if you married a tourist), you would not have these problems nor are they
being proposed. It is relatively easy to bring your spouse or fiance to the
USA.

I know someone whose spousal visa was under processing and the spouse was out
of the country. He suffered a stroke and her visa was expedited with the
doctor's note to help him in his healing. I think the US system is quite
reasonable. The UK system does not seem like that.

In the UK they wanted to deport a spouse because the husband did not make
enough money.

~~~
thrill
"It is relatively easy to bring your spouse or fiance to the USA."

Maybe too easy.
[http://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/2017/03/03/lauren...](http://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/2017/03/03/laurens-
man-pleads-guilty-sham-marriage-money/98692284/)

~~~
pm90
Actually, it seems pretty great that such scamsters are being caught. The
system ought to be as simple as it is for family reunions. There will always
be scamsters trying to game the system.

------
losvedir
> _The authorities have shown their willingness to treat foreign-born people
> as second-class citizens, no matter how integrated we are_

To be clear, since I didn't get this from the article: is she a citizen?

Treating a non-citizen like a "second class citizen" seems to me to be the
prerogative of the state. Treating foreign born _citizens_ differently from
natives is a travesty.

The way it's phrased makes it seem like the latter but I have a suspicion it's
the former.

------
tobltobs
I throw up when I read the arguments used by some of the commenters here how
it is ok to deport a mother from her British kids and her husband after a 27
years marriage.

