Immigration enforcement and Article 8 rights: Mixed-immigration status families Political emphasis on forced removal is splitting up and harming families PolicyBristol – influencing policy through world-class research Policy Briefing 19: Nov 2017 About the research Political pledges to reduce immigration are splitting up families. A series of recent changes to policy and legislation seek to reduce arrivals and increase removals and deportations, particularly of irregular (‘illegal’) migrants and foreign national offenders (FNOs). There are gendered dimensions to the effects, including men consistently making up over 85% of the foreign nationals detained and expelled from the UK. Under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), the right to respect for one’s private and family life, the public interest of someone’s removal/deportation is balanced against their personal circumstances. In response, however, to media accusations that Article 8 offers a legal loophole for undermining British border controls, recent legislation alters the scope and accessibility of Article 8 for foreign nationals and their families. The research examines the intersection of family life and immigration enforcement for mixed-immigration status couples. Between 2014-17, researchers followed 30 families consisting of foreign national men with irregular or precarious immigration status, and their British or EEA-national partners and children. Whilst the partners and children are exempt from British immigration controls, the men’s temporary or expired visas, asylum claims, illegal entry or criminal records make them liable to immigration enforcement measures such as immigration detention and expulsion. Their immigration status also prohibits them from employment and presents many other everyday restrictions, proliferating under ‘hostile environment’ immigration policies. Additional research data included interviews with practitioners from legal, private, state and NGO sectors; observation of deportation appeals and other immigration hearings; and analysis of changing media and political rhetoric. Legal and policy context: Deportation and Article 8 Under UK law, foreign nationals who break immigration rules or have irregular immigration status are liable to administrative removal. Foreign nationals whose presence is deemed undesirable (e.g. for criminality) can be deported, whatever their immigration status. The public interest to expulsion is balanced against people’s personal circumstances. The UK Borders Act 2007 shifted the balancing exercise and made the issuing of Deportation Orders automatic for FNOs sentenced to 12+ months imprisonment or for certain offences. Major changes to the Immigration Rules in 2012, strengthened by the Immigration Act 2014, restricted the interpretation of Article 8 in settlement and deportation cases, particularly for people with immigration or criminal offences. Compounding this, the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 removed most human rights and immigration cases from the scope of legal aid. The UK government remains obliged to respect Article 8 rights, including those of FNOs, and has many commitments – international and domestic – to protect families and children. Dr Melanie Griffiths, Candice Morgan, University of Bristol