From Winston Churchill to Windrush and Tony Blair to Brexit, this archival critique and collection of interviews is one of the most profound deconstructions of UK immigration policy that exists... The concluding chapter, a radical manifesto, foreshadows many of the proposals that came out of this year’s Labour party conference. Ending the hostile environment, closing down detention centres, extending the vote to migrants, reforming our curriculum and increasing legal aid. And it’s only because of such people as Goodfellow that these proposals made it into this year’s Labour manifesto – that policymakers are beginning to put humanity at the centre of immigration reform. She has proved herself a champion of migrant justice; we would be foolish not to keep listening.
Maya Goodfellow’s study appears as the recent deaths of 39 immigrants in a refrigerated lorry continue to stir horror and outrage. But, as evidenced by the countless examples of atrocity that Goodfellow cites which have been overlooked or forgotten, it is only a matter of time before the public outcry dissipates. Her thorough and even-handed book will leave readers both unsurprised at the suffering of yet more immigrants, and shocked at the tower of complex, harsh and contradictory policy facing anyone attempting to enter the country by safer means.
