Paul Hamilton speaks of ‘heartbreaking’ detention by Home Office officials after leave to remain application refused
Dr Hamilton, who graduated from Birmingham in July 2015 after completing a doctorate on Shakespeare’s influence on American literature in the 19th century, was detained on 17 January after immigration officials visited his home in Stratford-upon-Avon.
Asked what was the first sign that something had gone wrong with the application, he said: “When they [immigration officials] knocked on my door and told me they were arresting me.”
He said: “All they had to do was serve me papers and say: ‘I’m sorry your application was rejected – you need to leave the country.’ ”
“The sergeant there refused to process me because he said this was completely ridiculous.* And he got into an argument with the immigration officer that went on the entire afternoon,” Dr Hamilton said.
A Home Office notice given to Dr Hamilton, seen by THE, states that he was detained because “your removal from the United Kingdom is imminent” and “you do not have enough close ties (eg. family or friends) to make it likely that you will stay in one place”.
“The official reason given was that I don’t have family in the area, which is the position every single international student is in…So if you [as an overseas student] apply for further leave to remain, it means that basically they can just arrest you,” he said.
US PhD graduate detained in UK immigration removal centre | Times Higher Education (THE)
Immigration everywhere is so fucked up.
* = at least someone had some sense
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