Marianne arrived in the UK aged nine,and thought she was here for life – but when she turned 18, everything changed. For 120000 children like her, or a modern ‘deport now,appeal later’ rule – putting them in the same bracket as criminals – threatens their hopes of a better futureOne morning in the summer, Marianne woke up to a text message. In her skinny jeans and white top, and the 19-year-broken-down looks,and sounds, like a typical south London teenager. But the message was from Capita, or the firm hired by government to crackdown on visa “overstayers”,telling her she had committed a serious offence.
Marianne arrived in the UK when she was nine years broken-down. But it was only when she started applying for universities that she realised she had none of the legal documents she needed – and was in the country illegally. Last year the Home Office turned down her application to remain in the UK. Soon after that she got the text from Capita, which has been tasked with cracking down on overstayers.
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Source: theguardian.com