Exploring the Lived Experience of Immigration Reporting

Background: Minority ethnic groups are often portrayed as threats to national identity, stemming from colonial forms of racism. The use of Immigration Removal Centres and immigration reporting (also termed ‘signing’) are common means of surveillance for irregular migrants in the UK. As part of the UK’s security systems, asylum seekers, foreign national offenders and undocumented migrants are often required to ‘sign’ at police stations or reporting centres managed by the UK Visas and Immigration Agency (a branch of the Home Office). ‘Signing’ is consistent with the criminalisation of people considered to be ‘abusing’ the immigration system. There are a total of 14 reporting centres in the UK, three of which are within police stations. Increasingly, Counselling Psychologists, and allied professions, have seen a call to address social inequalities within society and this study aims to consider how wider social contexts impact wellbeing for this population.

Aims: To explore the lived experience of individuals required to report to the Home Office (HO) in the UK.

Methodology: The study involved interviewing individuals with experience of reporting (3 identifying as male and 3 female). Of the six interviewed, 5 had direct experience of reporting (i.e., received orders from the HO). One participant, though not having experienced reporting herself, shared her experiences of supporting her husband when doing so. Interviews were analysed using Max van Manen’s hermeneutic phenomenology (1997). A relativist ontology and constructivist epistemological stance were adopted.

Findings: Power is exerted over the lives of undocumented migrants constantly. Four themes were identified, (1) The racialisation of undocumented bodies, (2) The undocumented: A life suspended in time, (3) The Home Office: As predator to prey and (4) The undocumented: Taking power back.

Conclusions: It is important as CoPs to not replicate unequal power relations and adopt a social justice and leadership stance, aiming to influence ‘signing’ policy.