Chai Patel
@chaipatel.net
Migration, human rights, public law. He/him.
Reposted by Chai Patel
'The new rules won’t simply mean a longer wait for ILR. They will mean many people don’t qualify for ILR at all and have to leave the country'. @jamesbowes01.bsky.social on the government's earned settlement proposals ukandeu.ac.uk/remigration-...
Remigration by stealth? The government’s earned settlement proposals - UK in a changing Europe
James Bowes analyses the potential impact of the UK government's proposed changes to its settlement schemes to both new migrants and migrants already in the UK.
ukandeu.ac.uk
February 14, 2026 at 8:45 AM
'The new rules won’t simply mean a longer wait for ILR. They will mean many people don’t qualify for ILR at all and have to leave the country'. @jamesbowes01.bsky.social on the government's earned settlement proposals ukandeu.ac.uk/remigration-...
Reposted by Chai Patel
How can you change the public vibe about immigration? Well, that's a good question, worthy of discussion. One thing is clear, though: *changing the reality of immigration policy won't do it, because it isn't meaningfully connected to the reality of immigration policy*.
February 13, 2026 at 5:40 PM
How can you change the public vibe about immigration? Well, that's a good question, worthy of discussion. One thing is clear, though: *changing the reality of immigration policy won't do it, because it isn't meaningfully connected to the reality of immigration policy*.
Hard to believe the consultation was intended to be genuine when so many of the questions had answers restricted to A. Punish everyone. B punish everyone more. C Make a small exception for a tiny super sympathetic group of orphans with big sad eyes . D. Don't know.
An amazing number of people have has their say on plans to make people wait decades for secure settlement.
If this really is a "genuine" consultation, as the Home Secretary insists, she must listen to the many, many thousands of us who've condemned these abhorrent plans.
If this really is a "genuine" consultation, as the Home Secretary insists, she must listen to the many, many thousands of us who've condemned these abhorrent plans.
Earned settlement consultation closes with huge response as Home Secretary signals major changes ahead
130,000 responses received as of last week, Shabana Mahmood told Home Affairs Committee
www.ein.org.uk
February 13, 2026 at 4:50 PM
Hard to believe the consultation was intended to be genuine when so many of the questions had answers restricted to A. Punish everyone. B punish everyone more. C Make a small exception for a tiny super sympathetic group of orphans with big sad eyes . D. Don't know.
The best Oasis song is clearly the cover version of Champagne Supernova on the OC soundtrack.
February 13, 2026 at 4:35 PM
The best Oasis song is clearly the cover version of Champagne Supernova on the OC soundtrack.
Reposted by Chai Patel
You may have seen that heartwarming news story about the teenager who swam for hours to rescue a family from drowning.
Rest assured if any of you do that sort of shit in the Med you will be hunted down.
Rest assured if any of you do that sort of shit in the Med you will be hunted down.
Greek authorities have issued an European Arrest Warrant against Norwegian human rights activist Tommy Olsen, who leads the Aegean Boat Report, supporting migrants.
Greece moves to arrest Nordic aid worker supporting migrants
Greek authorities have issued an European Arrest Warrant against Norwegian human rights activist Tommy Olsen, who leads the Aegean Boat Report, supporting migrants.
euobserver.com
February 12, 2026 at 7:54 PM
You may have seen that heartwarming news story about the teenager who swam for hours to rescue a family from drowning.
Rest assured if any of you do that sort of shit in the Med you will be hunted down.
Rest assured if any of you do that sort of shit in the Med you will be hunted down.
Look we all knock off early sometimes.
February 12, 2026 at 7:21 PM
Look we all knock off early sometimes.
Reposted by Chai Patel
Looks at watch.. Er.. not quite 11.59 is it?
February 12, 2026 at 7:18 PM
Looks at watch.. Er.. not quite 11.59 is it?
Reposted by Chai Patel
really interesting to me how many professional political commentators have basically retconned the draconian immigration enforcement policies of Obama and Biden out of existence and have completely swallowed the right wing narrative of immigration enforcement
Not going to read them all because jesus fucking christ but this is nasty work from Friedersdorf
February 12, 2026 at 4:29 PM
really interesting to me how many professional political commentators have basically retconned the draconian immigration enforcement policies of Obama and Biden out of existence and have completely swallowed the right wing narrative of immigration enforcement
Reposted by Chai Patel
Genuinely hard to think of another industry that’s treated like this. “Researchers working with Claude” rather than “people employed by Anthropic“ is a v odd choice of words.
Researchers working with the A.I. system Claude have come to understand that the model’s selfhood, like our own, is a matter of both neurons and narratives. newyorkermag.visitlink.me/kEX1vV
February 11, 2026 at 1:54 PM
Genuinely hard to think of another industry that’s treated like this. “Researchers working with Claude” rather than “people employed by Anthropic“ is a v odd choice of words.
Reposted by Chai Patel
Genuinely, if you live in the UK you should so the consultation just to find out some of the unbelievable details of what's being proposed. Even with their spin and obfuscation it's shocking
the whole thing is of course completely revolting. 20 YEARS to settlement for refugees? no settlement if you’ve ever had a criminal conviction or a tax debt? 10 YEARS added if you’ve ever received benefits? partners and children on their own routes to settlement? What are you even TALKING about
February 11, 2026 at 8:51 AM
Genuinely, if you live in the UK you should so the consultation just to find out some of the unbelievable details of what's being proposed. Even with their spin and obfuscation it's shocking
Reposted by Chai Patel
filled out the horrible settlement consultation and I’m sorry, the question that is framed as a negative so that you have to ‘strongly disagree’ with something not happening?? This has enraged me
February 11, 2026 at 8:15 AM
filled out the horrible settlement consultation and I’m sorry, the question that is framed as a negative so that you have to ‘strongly disagree’ with something not happening?? This has enraged me
Reposted by Chai Patel
Imagine being presented with these accounts of stark unfairness and insecurity caused by the earned settlement plans and your response being ‘It is a privilege not a right to settle in the UK and it must be earned’ - the Home Secretary needs to go www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
Nurses’ families fear being torn apart in UK immigration crackdown, survey says
Exclusive: Most people in charity’s study say they worry about being separated from relatives under Mahmood plans
www.theguardian.com
February 11, 2026 at 7:09 AM
Imagine being presented with these accounts of stark unfairness and insecurity caused by the earned settlement plans and your response being ‘It is a privilege not a right to settle in the UK and it must be earned’ - the Home Secretary needs to go www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
Reposted by Chai Patel
Every day I wake up and fail to understand how no one is getting that if we lose on migrant rights - we lose on everything? Climate, the economy and to the far-right. It's this exact moment everyone needs to step in - but that's just not happening.
February 10, 2026 at 11:31 AM
Every day I wake up and fail to understand how no one is getting that if we lose on migrant rights - we lose on everything? Climate, the economy and to the far-right. It's this exact moment everyone needs to step in - but that's just not happening.
Reposted by Chai Patel
The Home Office tweet here - referring to asylum seekers legally here and legally supported by the government as “illegal migrants” - is a deliberate attempt to stir up resentment and racial hatred.
I can’t see how else you describe it.
I can’t see how else you describe it.
The Home Office now describes asylum seekers as "illegal immigrants [living in hotels]" with no reference to the reason that these people are in government-funded accommodation is that this government has taken & will process the asylum claim from them in 98-99% of cases of unauthorised entry.
February 8, 2026 at 12:58 PM
The Home Office tweet here - referring to asylum seekers legally here and legally supported by the government as “illegal migrants” - is a deliberate attempt to stir up resentment and racial hatred.
I can’t see how else you describe it.
I can’t see how else you describe it.
Reposted by Chai Patel
Labour are knowingly putting more children at risk of poverty and destitution. We see this every day already @praxisprojects.bsky.social. The child poverty strategy acknowledges this too. The settlement proposals must be stopped.
⚠️New @ippr.org research: 300,000 children will be hit by the Govt’s earned settlement plans.
Retrospective changes will deepen child poverty, block access to higher education & trap families in years of uncertainty.
This is precarity by design.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
Retrospective changes will deepen child poverty, block access to higher education & trap families in years of uncertainty.
This is precarity by design.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
300,000 children face 10-year wait for settled status under UK plans, says IPPR
Thinktank analysis says proposed ‘earned settlement’ changes could trap families in prolonged insecurity
www.theguardian.com
February 9, 2026 at 8:43 AM
Labour are knowingly putting more children at risk of poverty and destitution. We see this every day already @praxisprojects.bsky.social. The child poverty strategy acknowledges this too. The settlement proposals must be stopped.
Reposted by Chai Patel
Labour people on here complain that nobody knows about all the good things they're doing, blaming the media, but a big part of it is that they, themselves, are standing on the streets with a big megaphone saying how much they hate migrants and foreigners.
Any time I look to see what the Labour government is up to in the UK it turns out to be things like making posters that Alfonso Cuarón put in the background of the long tracking shot that opens “Children of Men”.
February 8, 2026 at 3:07 PM
Labour people on here complain that nobody knows about all the good things they're doing, blaming the media, but a big part of it is that they, themselves, are standing on the streets with a big megaphone saying how much they hate migrants and foreigners.
Reposted by Chai Patel
It’s not a viable market product in a market where big tech platforms control distribution and tip the scales towards an endless supply of teenagers working free.
Every media company should be chasing the open social web to break that control wide open and reshape the market
Every media company should be chasing the open social web to break that control wide open and reshape the market
High-quality journalism is not a viable market product. If you want consistent high-quality journalism, you need some kind of subsidy.
ANY billionaire could set up the WaPo as a high-quality journalism outlet, accept that it's not going to make money, & simply subsidize it. Nothing stopping them.
ANY billionaire could set up the WaPo as a high-quality journalism outlet, accept that it's not going to make money, & simply subsidize it. Nothing stopping them.
February 7, 2026 at 8:30 PM
It’s not a viable market product in a market where big tech platforms control distribution and tip the scales towards an endless supply of teenagers working free.
Every media company should be chasing the open social web to break that control wide open and reshape the market
Every media company should be chasing the open social web to break that control wide open and reshape the market
Reposted by Chai Patel
I sometimes feel like people take policy decisions based on the Daily Mail in their head. The story since 2016 in the UK has really been, regardless of what real people actually think, to answer to the people who live in your imagination made up by right wing people who insist you respect them
February 7, 2026 at 7:12 PM
I sometimes feel like people take policy decisions based on the Daily Mail in their head. The story since 2016 in the UK has really been, regardless of what real people actually think, to answer to the people who live in your imagination made up by right wing people who insist you respect them
Reposted by Chai Patel
Useful thread by @sundersays.bsky.social on the settlement proposals.
Home Affairs Committee has received well over 100 expert submissions to its inquiry on this topic, vast majority opposing the proposals on both principled and practical
committees.parliament.uk/committee/83...
Home Affairs Committee has received well over 100 expert submissions to its inquiry on this topic, vast majority opposing the proposals on both principled and practical
committees.parliament.uk/committee/83...
February 7, 2026 at 9:34 AM
Useful thread by @sundersays.bsky.social on the settlement proposals.
Home Affairs Committee has received well over 100 expert submissions to its inquiry on this topic, vast majority opposing the proposals on both principled and practical
committees.parliament.uk/committee/83...
Home Affairs Committee has received well over 100 expert submissions to its inquiry on this topic, vast majority opposing the proposals on both principled and practical
committees.parliament.uk/committee/83...
Also even if you don't face these challenges you can still have your life enriched massively by friendships with people in different countries whom you otherwise would never have met.
Regulate the companies & force them to put in place decent moderation. Don't cut children off from the world.
Regulate the companies & force them to put in place decent moderation. Don't cut children off from the world.
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
The impacts of locking under 16 yos from their social media networks are now beginning to bite for those young people who relied on them for social connection
The impacts of locking under 16 yos from their social media networks are now beginning to bite for those young people who relied on them for social connection
‘I’ve lost my friends’: advocacy groups warn Australia’s social media ban risks isolating kids with disabilities
Despite the ban’s aim to protect young people, experts are concerned that those in marginalised communities or living with disabilities could lose vital support networks
www.theguardian.com
February 7, 2026 at 9:39 AM
Also even if you don't face these challenges you can still have your life enriched massively by friendships with people in different countries whom you otherwise would never have met.
Regulate the companies & force them to put in place decent moderation. Don't cut children off from the world.
Regulate the companies & force them to put in place decent moderation. Don't cut children off from the world.
Reposted by Chai Patel
These bans are short-sighted and inhumane and pushed by people who do not understand the complexity of social media
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
The impacts of locking under 16 yos from their social media networks are now beginning to bite for those young people who relied on them for social connection
The impacts of locking under 16 yos from their social media networks are now beginning to bite for those young people who relied on them for social connection
‘I’ve lost my friends’: advocacy groups warn Australia’s social media ban risks isolating kids with disabilities
Despite the ban’s aim to protect young people, experts are concerned that those in marginalised communities or living with disabilities could lose vital support networks
www.theguardian.com
February 7, 2026 at 8:56 AM
These bans are short-sighted and inhumane and pushed by people who do not understand the complexity of social media
We need to surgically erase all memory of Malcolm Tucker from people who work in politics.
*pushes glasses up nose*
traditionally however it should be noted that according to Erskine May, the bricking is carried out from behind in order to maximise damage to the brain stem
traditionally however it should be noted that according to Erskine May, the bricking is carried out from behind in order to maximise damage to the brain stem
February 6, 2026 at 8:34 PM
We need to surgically erase all memory of Malcolm Tucker from people who work in politics.
Reposted by Chai Patel
“While the govt. has still not implemented key lessons from the Windrush lessons learned review, it continues to promote harmful and racist stereotypes that equate migration with criminality. This is unjust, divisive, & deeply damaging.” @minnierahman.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Home Office says nearly 60,000 people deported from UK or left voluntarily since 2024 election
Shabana Mahmood insists deportations will rise, as Labour government is accused of promoting ‘harmful stereotypes’ of migrants
www.theguardian.com
February 6, 2026 at 1:02 PM
“While the govt. has still not implemented key lessons from the Windrush lessons learned review, it continues to promote harmful and racist stereotypes that equate migration with criminality. This is unjust, divisive, & deeply damaging.” @minnierahman.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Reposted by Chai Patel
Why Spain is breaking the mold in Europe -
choosing regularisation instead of MAGA mass deportations!!
Two reasons: morality & pragmatism.
🙏Spain showing us another, better way is possible www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/o...
choosing regularisation instead of MAGA mass deportations!!
Two reasons: morality & pragmatism.
🙏Spain showing us another, better way is possible www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/o...
Opinion | I’m the Prime Minister of Spain. This Is Why the West Needs Migrants.
www.nytimes.com
February 6, 2026 at 7:24 AM
Why Spain is breaking the mold in Europe -
choosing regularisation instead of MAGA mass deportations!!
Two reasons: morality & pragmatism.
🙏Spain showing us another, better way is possible www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/o...
choosing regularisation instead of MAGA mass deportations!!
Two reasons: morality & pragmatism.
🙏Spain showing us another, better way is possible www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/o...