Joint statement by Show Racism the Red Card, Migrant Voice and IMIX, partners in the campaign ‘Migration. Making Britain Great.’

As a coalition that aims to challenge the negative conversation about migration, by creating greater understanding of the positive difference migrants make to the UK and that believes migration makes the UK better and stronger, we cannot remain silent having seen this government’s five-point plan to reduce net migration.

This government is wrecking the lives of families across this country, including its own citizens, in its desperate desire to grab headlines.

By hiking the minimum income for family visas to £38,700, this government has deprived more than half the country of the right to love and marry who they choose, simply because they are not deemed rich enough. It is condemning children to grow up only seeing the parents who want to love them and care for them on the other end of a phone.

We must welcome people who come to our country as key workers and those who come seeking sanctuary, yet we are sending a message to nurses, tradespeople and teachers that they are not worthy of a family life.

And at a time when many families stay up at night worrying about looking after vulnerable loved ones, this government is putting social care in even more crisis by telling care workers they must choose the pain of separation from their children if they want to fill an empty job. We need to remember that nearly a quarter of NHS staff were born outside the UK. We are asking people to give up caring for their family in order to care for ours.

It would be inconceivable to many that their right to fall in love should depend on how much they earn, yet that is exactly what this government is saying. This is a policy which does not just say that migrants are only a resource, but also that those born elsewhere should not be allowed the very basic rights to marry and have children if they do not meet an arbitrary requirement.

Every person who moves to the UK is an individual, with skills to share and love to give. This is an attack on our communities, colleagues and families. We urge this government to stop dehumanising and scapegoating immigrants and focus on the real job of improving living standards instead. We must stop seeing migration as a problem and see it as a solution.

Migration. Making Britain Great.