Last Thursday Damian Green gave his big immigration speech . Well, it wasn't full of hope for all those trying to change the rather tired and dusty narrative on immigration.

In his big speech on immigration last Thursday Damian Green did two things. First, he patted himself and his coalition colleagues on the back by giving a few numbers to show how effective the Coalition's policy had been so far.
According to him, student visas have dropped by 11% compared to the beginning of 2011, and work visas by 17% overall. Secondly, he was paving the way for more policy changes. "There needs to be a focus on quality rather than quantity. The principle of selectivity should apply to student migration just as it does to work migration."

Solicitor for Blokh solicitors, Elena Tsirlina published a book to help 'lay people' get to grips with the maze that is immigration law relating to academia, "A Practical Guide to Immigration Law Relating to Students" .

Research Fortnight is the UK’s leading independent source of news, analysis, funding opportunities and jobs for the academic research community. Available fortnightly in print and daily online, Research Fortnight has been published continuously since 1994.
Asked to contribute a piece for the excellent latest issue focusing on immigration policies and academia, here is what I wrote:

"Populist policies harm UK's reputation
The UK's one-size-fits-all approach to immigration is already hurting, but some of the risks are long term, says Valerie Hartwich

The excellent Migration Rights Network's blog published a piece today in an attempt to make sense of apparently contradictory reports on the effects of immigration.

The Guardian newspaper recently published an article on Plymouth city's plans to introduce a limit to the number of foreign students allowed into shops.

The UK is well known as a destination for English language courses, and the country has benefited greatly from the direct and indirect revenues generated by those students. At a time when immigration laws are making it more difficult for English language schools to recruit, and giving an unwelcoming image of Britain, this will only strengthen the notion that foreigners are not really wanted here, even if they pay nice sums of money to up their linguistic skills.

The BBC reports that the National Institute of Economic and Social Research recently published a report Link text going against the Migrationwatch narrative of benefit leeches immigrants. As Eastern European migrants have been singled out by various groups such as MigrationWatch as the main problem the NIESR focused on this group. In its new report, it shows that the influx of Eastern European migrants has not led to an increase in benefit claimants. It claims that overwhelmingly those migrants are young, highly qualified and with a strong work ethic.

We were forwarded the following by someone working in the Arts sector. It shows just how the UKBA's complex, unclear and legal binding regulations opens up new business areas for advisory bodies. What a way to kickstart the British economy!

Documentation Verification for Non-UK National Employees Workshop

London: Wednesday 1 February 2012 - Danubius Regents Park Hotel
Manchester: Thursday 22 March 2012 – Marriott Victoria & Albert Hotel
Birmingham: Thursday 3 May 2012 – Hilton Birmingham Metropole Hotel

Workshop Timings: 0930 – 1645
Website: www.bfi.co.uk

Dear Colleague,

It's the first time I post another Manifesto Club post, but this account by US filmmaker Megan Horvath encapsulates perfectly why we are attempting to change the way British immigration policies approach the arts and academia. To read Megan's story, click here.
She gives clear and poignant reasons why the current immigration rules are a discrimination to those less well-off and those above 32. And she reminds us that, no, not all should be seen through the economic lense. For many immigrating is about expanding their horizon, about new experiences, which is part of the history of the human race. I'll never say that enough!

The Migrants Rights Network has started the new year with a very good piece by Ruth White-Grove on why we should get past the scaremongering headlines on immigration. A worthwhile read which nicely sums up what we've been saying all through our campaign.