State violence against migrants: how immigration removal became normal and how we are challenging it now (Journal of Immigration, Asylum & Nationality Law) (16 January 2019)

Patrick Page, a senior caseworker in our public law department, and editor of the department’s ‘No Walls’ blog, has co-authored an article with the director of immigration and public law, Toufique Hossain, for the Journal of Immigration, Asylum & Nationality Law (the official journal of the Immigration Law Practitioners' Association) on the topic of state violence and the Home Office’s immigration removal policies. Westlaw members can access the full article here. Patrick and Toufique trace the development of the executive’s powers of administrative removal, from a historically liberal and cosmopolitan approach to the ‘deportation turn’ following 9/11, to the hostile environment of today. They then outline more recent challenges to removal policies, focusing ultimately on the challenge made by clients of Duncan Lewis to the current ‘removal window’ policy, whereby people are given little or no notice of their removal and are thus deprived of a fair chance to challenge their removal. More about this litigation and its outcome can be found here. Patrick and Toufique write: ‘While the power to remove is legislated for, the executive has creatively written policy "interpreting” the statute, granting itself powers which are not grounded in the word or spirit of this legislation, not to speak of the Rule of Law.’