A Green Party activist has defended a London council’s threat not to support the Home Office on immigration raids.
Speaking to GB News, Ashok Kumar said deportation efforts “make the public less safe”.
He was speaking as Jonathan Bartley, Lambeth Council's “cabinet member for safer, thriving neighbourhoods,” said he would review the borough's information-sharing arrangements with immigration enforcement.
In a video shared on the council's website, the councillor claimed Lambeth residents “fear the knock on the door” and that the area “is home to people from every corner of the world”.
“They fear they can't turn to the council for help when they might be in exploitative circumstances because perhaps the council is actually cooperating with council enforcement,” Mr Bartley said before graffiti that read “all migrants welcome”.
GB News host Emily Carver questioned Mr Kumar on the council's plans.
“He's essentially saying that, even if you're an illegal migrant, 'come to Lambeth and we will keep you in housing or whatever else. We won't report you to the Home Office. And if the Home Office do try to deport, you will stand in the way'", she said.
“If you’re a housing officer or you're a social worker, your role is to provide services for the residents in the borough. It's not to enforce immigration laws. You're not an immigration officer,” the Green Party activist shot back.
“Just like we wouldn't expect an immigration officer to report to help you at the youth centre, we don't expect a youth worker to be an immigration officer. It's really that simple.
“We don't believe that cultures of fear that don’t allow people to come and seek services freely and openly.”
Speaking on Home Office dictates, he declared: “The council isn't going to enforce them, because that makes the public less safe.
“It gives mostly women fewer options when they're victims of abuse or witnesses to crime. We want witnesses of the crime to report it.
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“If you witness a crime in a Green-controlled borough, we want you to report it without fear that that's going to be reported to the Home Office.
“If you are a victim of crime, we want you to report it without fear that you're going to be reported to the Home Office,” he reiterated.
GB News Deputy Political Editor Tom Harwood shot it, beginning: “If someone comes into this country illegally, the very first thing they have done is break the law.
“Are they not disproportionately more likely to disregard other laws? Because the very first thing they have done in coming to this country is break one of our most fundamental laws.”
“We're not talking about the people who've broken those laws, because that's criminal activity,” Mr Kumar shot back.
“What we're talking about is victims of domestic violence, victims of rape, people whose services the council affects.
“We don't enforce the criminal law,” he added.
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A Green Party activist has defended a London council’s threat not to support the Home Office on immigration raids.
Speaking to GB News, Ashok Kumar said deportation efforts “make the public less safe”.
He was speaking as Jonathan Bartley, Lambeth Council's “cabinet member for safer, thriving neighbourhoods,” said he would review the borough's information-sharing arrangements with immigration enforcement.
In a video shared on the council's website, the councillor claimed Lambeth residents “fear the knock on the door” and that the area “is home to people from every corner of the world”.
“They fear they can't turn to the council for help when they might be in exploitative circumstances because perhaps the council is actually cooperating with council enforcement,” Mr Bartley said before graffiti that read “all migrants welcome”.
GB News host Emily Carver questioned Mr Kumar on the council's plans.
“He's essentially saying that, even if you're an illegal migrant, 'come to Lambeth and we will keep you in housing or whatever else. We won't report you to the Home Office. And if the Home Office do try to deport, you will stand in the way'", she said.
“If you’re a housing officer or you're a social worker, your role is to provide services for the residents in the borough. It's not to enforce immigration laws. You're not an immigration officer,” the Green Party activist shot back.
“Just like we wouldn't expect an immigration officer to report to help you at the youth centre, we don't expect a youth worker to be an immigration officer. It's really that simple.
“We don't believe that cultures of fear that don’t allow people to come and seek services freely and openly.”
Speaking on Home Office dictates, he declared: “The council isn't going to enforce them, because that makes the public less safe.
“It gives mostly women fewer options when they're victims of abuse or witnesses to crime. We want witnesses of the crime to report it.
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“If you witness a crime in a Green-controlled borough, we want you to report it without fear that that's going to be reported to the Home Office.
“If you are a victim of crime, we want you to report it without fear that you're going to be reported to the Home Office,” he reiterated.
GB News Deputy Political Editor Tom Harwood shot it, beginning: “If someone comes into this country illegally, the very first thing they have done is break the law.
“Are they not disproportionately more likely to disregard other laws? Because the very first thing they have done in coming to this country is break one of our most fundamental laws.”
“We're not talking about the people who've broken those laws, because that's criminal activity,” Mr Kumar shot back.
“What we're talking about is victims of domestic violence, victims of rape, people whose services the council affects.
“We don't enforce the criminal law,” he added.
Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter
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