"Do they come for you at dawn or dusk? In the dead of night, or at family dinnertime? Will they come with masks and shields, or will they be kindly and sheepishly apologetic? Will they accept a cup of tea and a biscuit if offered? Will there will be bags already packed by the door, protocols prepped and drilled, a list of numbers to call? Will you go quietly and with dignity, or in a mess of curse words and screaming limbs?"
"Two decades after the Conservative party asked Are you thinking what we're thinking?, it turns out that quite a lot of people were. Through the long years of Windrush scandals and asylum panic, Brexit and beyond, from the British National party in local government to white nationalists proudly parading through our streets, from the Rwanda scheme to great replacement theory, a menacing anti-migrant movement has been growling into gear."
Non-white residents imagine forced removals at any hour, picturing officials appearing politely or brutishly, and wonder whether families will be prepared or torn apart. Everyday interactions can be read as microaggressions signaling an undercurrent of hostility. British political history has produced policies and movements that amplify those fears: Windrush scandals, asylum panics, Brexit, local BNP presence, public white nationalist marches, the Rwanda deportation scheme, and great replacement theory. These factors combine with governmental momentum and societal prejudice to produce a credible threat of detention, deportation, and social exclusion for migrant and minority communities.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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