JOANNE DOUGLAS Concern but not contempt T

HE issue of immigration is not one I decided to write about with ease.

Sadly, such a subject brings out extreme views which I don’t share.

And I wondered if a column on the subject would just be used as an excuse by those looking for an opportunity to have a dig at those who seek a new life in a country they were not born in, without ever stopping to think about their own heritage.

A glance at the top of this column will tell you my surname, Douglas, and many will associate it with Scotland.

Yes I’m the granddaughter of a migrant.

Ok, my paternal grandfather came from only a few hundred miles away in the Scottish borders, but he left his home country behind to settle in England.

The red glow of my hair colour also reveals my Celtic heritage. On my mum’s side it heralds from across the sea and Dublin, where my grandad was born. He fled utter poverty to come to England.

In the past, migrants like my grandfathers were welcomed. Large communities, especially Irish, made their home here and today it’s without question.

This week the subject of immigration was in the headlines once again, and I knew nothing of the Windrush generation until this week.

They’re people who herald from Commonwealth countries and came here between 1948 and 1971.

Parents with their own children, many of whom had no documentation of their own, arrived here because we needed them.

This nation had post-war labour shortages and workers.

They settled here, found employment, made homes and had children, just like my grandfathers before them.

Yet it got to the point of desperation for some before the nation learned they faced deportation within days.

And why? Changes to immigration rules and the Home Office even destroying paperwork for those given indefinite right to remain.

Even the harshest critics who say our immigration rules are ‘soft’ would agree this is wrong and any clampdown is not meant for people who have lived here for decades.

Huddersfield may even host some of the Windrush families in our Caribbean community. And I believe this town is richer for it.

Huddersfield without immigration of days gone by would be a poorer place today.

It brought skilled workers, it brought a new culture for us to share in, it brought some amazing food for us to sample. It brought people who are our neighbours, colleagues and friends and have been for decades.

I despair that our attempt to control immigration has led to a situation like this for those who deserve to call England home.

Yes we do need to keep criminals out, and yes we do need to know who is coming into our country.

And I would agree with those of you who say people coming here need to be willing to speak English too, for integration can only happen if we can all talk to each other.

Immigration control should not be about throwing out people who have called England home for longer than I have.