Confused state of immigration policy

THERE will be many people who will look at the bureaucratic nightmare that has befallen Swarthick Salins and his family and wonder about the state of Britain’s immigration policies.

Mr Salins, who has lived in Scotland for nine years, and his children, who were born here, face being deported because he broke an immigration rule by allowing his savings to dip by £78 below a cutoff point.

Many critics of our immigration rules will contrast what appears to be the harsh treatment of Mr Salins with the shocking recent cases of Eastern European criminals, with records of violence, who were unwittingly welcomed with open arms and then went on to commit truly appalling murders in Scotland. The murders have prompted questions about EU rules and the perception that Britain is just a soft touch with lax checking procedures.

Mr Salins is not from the EU, of course, but he is a law-abiding, industrious citizen whose children have never known anywhere but Scotland. It shows what a confused and unsatisfactory state of affairs surrounds immigration regulations. It also illustrates how efficient the government and civil service are at pursuing easy targets while ducking the difficult ones.