THE last issue of Solidarity contained a brief report on the amnesty suggested by the government for those in the UK without proper documentation. The report was uncritical of the suggestion and implied that it was a progressive move. However amnesties imposed by the state are not an amelioration of immigration controls. When supported by those critical of restrictions they are not a form of resistance to controls. Rather they are an integral part of controls.
They are integral to controls because they are based not on the needs of the undocumented but on the requirements of British capital – the need for a mass of cheap workers.
They are integral to controls because they represent a method of tracking down and deporting those not falling within the amnesty but who mistakenly apply for it. This is precisely what happened in 1974 when the then Labour government declared a tightly defined amnesty. Beware the politicians bearing gifts!
Of course for those given the amnesty it is a great relief from fear of deportation. However for those not given the amnesty it is not simply a continuation of fear. Rather it is a justified intensification of fear.
Amnesties always go hand in hand with further repression of those excluded by them. So the suggested recent amnesty must be seen in context of the recent Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act which increases the power of the state over the undocumented.
The National Coalition of Anti Deportation campaigns, in welcoming a proposed amnesty, has nonetheless said that “NCADC would not support any exclusions”. However amnesties are always exclusive. They serve to create a division between those included and those excluded. And those excluded never could and will never support such proposals.
To argue that no one is illegal, is not simply to go beyond an amnesty It is to go in a completely different direction. It is to fight for the abolition of all controls.
It is to fight for the right of free entry and not only of the right to stay of those already here. It is to demand rights not charity. It is to protect the undocumented by making documents irrelevant.
Steve Cohen (No One Is Illegal), Manchester