Many migrants have to live with the experience of a double-jeopardy: vulnerable to exploitation at the hands of unscrupulous employers and also the threat of enforcement action of immigration officials. What happen when these twin oppressions come together in the workplace? And how can its often grievous effects be challenged?
The cooperation of the management of Byron Hamburger’s with Home Office immigration enforcement officers in a sting operation earlier in the summer symbolises everything that can go wrong for migrant workers when employment law and immigration policy merge.
For many people with deep inside knowledge about the vulnerable position of migrants in the UK today, the key issues are unfair immigration regulations and harsh exploitation of workers. The type of collaboration with enforcement measures that the Home Office expects from employers when it comes to policing their workforces adds to the risks for migrant workers today.