I'm in two minds about the recent discussions about the Home Office and deportation of foreign criminals. Not so much in relation to the issue as such, but the fact that conveniently, the whole shebang achieves two outcomes which I'm more than happy about without even the hint of campaigning actions, angry letters and making myself unpopular. It exposes the undeniable shambles the Home Office civil servants have created and steers attention away from removing asylum seekers. They must all now be very busy with deportation orders for criminals that hopefully asylum seekers may have some breathing space. Hopefully.

On the downside of things, I've received a campaigning summary from someone who is the victim of this current fashion of deporting anyone the Home Office can lay their hands on. As we know, the Home Office are slightly unsuccessful in laying their hands on too many, having managed to lose track of the real baddies. So now anyone available is being issued a deportation order, to make the statistics look better soon and the electorates happy campers all around. The most recent victim of such political whims is a Chilean national, brought up here and resident here as a political refugee since Pinochet took over. Remember? That was 1977. He committed a crime, went to prison for three years, and is now due to be deported as a foreign criminal.
To Jamaica.

The Home Office clearly hasn't paid attention in their geography class. Just to make it clear: Chile: south America, main land, west coast. Jamaica: island, middle America, east coast. To be honest, I don't know what his sister is so worried about. I'm seriously considering committing a crime myself - I'm foreign, maybe I'll be deported to Jamaica too?  No more rain, lots of cocktails, beach, sunshine.

Knowing my luck, they'd deport me to France though.