This summer I had the opportunity to work and volunteer at Bail for Immigration Detainees (BiD) as a Caseworker and a Policy Researcher.  

On Monday to Thursday, the role involved answering an advice line between 10 am and 12 noon. Here, I took instruction and provided updates for new and existing clients in different prisons and Immigration Removal Centres in the UK. Correspondence was done via phone calls, faxes, emails, and letters. Through the afternoon, I worked on more substantive tasks, such as drafting B1 immigration bail grounds, accommodation and support applications, and additional submissions to the First Tier Tribunal.

On Fridays, I researched alongside a Policy Coordinator on a project relating to the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) immigration and deportation trends. The intention of the research was to identify trends in the treatment of different foreign national groups, as classified in relation to the length of their convictions, their nationality, and the varied decisions of the Home Office and First Tier Tribunal. The research highlighted discrepancies in treatment. From these, BiD intends to provide recommendations to streamline the deportation process. I believe the impact of this research project could directly support EU clients in the immigration system by providing them with detailed and evidenced advice that relates to their unique circumstances. The research also has the lasting impact of serving as an example of primary research conducted through BiD’s own data base. From it, the organisation will be in a better position to provide quality advice to EU clients in immigration detention confronted by deportation action. 

I also had the opportunity to visit the Heathrow Immigration Removal Centres, Harmondsworth and Colnbrook, to conduct a legal surgery with the residents.

Before beginning this placement, I knew I was interested in human rights, but I was eager to find a specific avenue to focus my efforts. This avenue ended up being immigration.

 In my personal experience, I struggled to get a Tier 4 visa to study in the UK, despite having the right documentation and funds. Despite having the privilege of a university sponsorship and a valid travel document. This struggle awakened me to the complexities of the immigration landscape post Covid-19 and Brexit.

This landscape has only become more torrid following the passing of the Illegal Migration Act 2023 – a piece of retroactive legislation aimed to ‘deter unlawful migration’. Though not completely in force at the time of writing, the Act will enable the Secretary of State to remove persons without electronic travel authorisation, unaccompanied children, and further lower the threshold for indefinite immigration detention for foreign nationals and foreign national offenders.

 I have never been able to reconcile with the idea of a human being “being illegal”.

Working first hand with asylum seekers, victims of modern slavery, torture and trafficking has illustrated the shortcomings and lack of nuance in our current legal frameworks. It has shown me that this area of law, everchanging though it may be, needs more hands-on deck. Further funding, further recommendations, further visibility.

 Working at BiD has been a pleasure and a privilege in this way. Not only have I been able to contribute to the protection of liberty, but I have qualified as an OISC Level 1 Asylum and Protection advisor, allowing me to provide generic, pro bono immigration advice. This qualification has made my LIA feel sustainable as I can continue to be regulated by BiD and remain engaged in an area of law I am particularly interested in. The placement has given me legal writing skills and strengthened my ability to build interpersonal relationships across the boundaries of nationality and carcerality.

 Across my research a strong focus was placed on appeal rights and the reasoning given by the Home Office before issuing Removal Directions. At LSE, I study Anthropology and Law, a course that places emphasis on a holistic approach to the legal system and a recognition of equity in light of geographic and cultural differences. BiD holds a similar conviction, attempting to define how a singular tenant – that of liberty – should persevere across borders and boundaries. 

 Following the recent publication from the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration on the Home Office’s removal of foreign national offenders, immigration is further revealed to be a large and complex operation that functions insufficiently with the greatest degree of discretion. Organisations like BiD participate in the tangible ramifications of this, managing a generous caseload and doing so with no discrimination and no qualifying criteria.

 I am deeply thankful for the people I have met over the last three months. I have found their tenacity and kindness immeasurable. Amongst the chaos of it all, the BiD family eats lunch together every day. Our director, Annie Campbell Viswanathan, personally cooks dhal every Tuesday as an extension of her gratitude.

 I am grateful for the guidance, supervision, and mentorship I have received in this otherwise forbidding area of law. This has empowered me to write and submit more bail applications than I have been able to keep track of. This placement has strengthened my resolve to work towards the end of suffering without any attachment to the idea that suffering will end. I am proud to have contributed to the 80% success rate enjoyed by BiD as a result of the hard work put in by everyone involved – a statistic head and shoulders above the 30% success rate of bail applications that are not done by BiD.

As I move forward in my law career, BiD will hold a special place in my heart as the flagship model of compassion in practice and radical defiance against a trend of xenophobia quickly becoming naturalised in the UK’s immigration landscape.

 I know hope can never be lost. In spite of restricted access to justice, in spite of politics and pernicious policy.