I'm not sure how immigration control can be racist? Surely it is based on having a passport/visa rather than their ethnic descent?

The reason it might appear racist is because you are looking at a correlation between not having a passport and being of foreign ethnic descent. If border control was based purely upon ethnic descent percentages, then many people with british passports would have to be turned away.

I thought that this was a tcar event not an RCG/FRFI event... I fear that those genuine vulnerable people claiming asylum in this country are not only being attacked for that reason but are also being used by a sect who are clearly only using these people to further their own political aims. Shame on the RCG/FRFI !!!

We need to build a genuine campaign that actually fights for these poor victims of the system...

Immigration controls are racist because they determine entrance to the country on the basis of nationality (racism is not just about ethnicity).

TCAR, RCG/FRFI - what does it matter who is doing the work? What are you doing other than moaning - tell us about the movement you are building. Presumably it doesn't allow communists in, so who have you got?

If you look at the history of immigration controls in the UK, you can see that immigration restrictions have almost always had a racial component. For example, the 1905 Aliens Act was motivated by xenophobia against Jewish migrants from Eastern Europe. Similarly, several pieces of immigration legislation in the 1960s and '70s were aimed at restricting the movement of (black and Asian) people from former British colonies in Africa, India and the Caribbean. Yet these types of obstacles have not tended to face white migrants from former settler colonies such as Australia. The current focus on imprisoning and deporting 'failed' asylum seekers is just the latest twisted take on migration. These people, many of whom are victims of torture, rape and persecution, are being imprisoned often indefinitely and have committed no crime other than that of asking for help from the UK (the country which is responsible for a very large chunk of worldwide arms sales, and has been directly responsible for attacking Iraq and Afghanistan, countries of origin of many asylum seekers).

So my love, support and solidarity goes out to all those round the country exposing the truth of what is happening, and resisting the criminalisation of migrants and refugees.

Saturday was the anniversary of the Sharpesville Massacre in South Africa in 1960 and so it got me thinking about the similarities between apartheid in South Africa and the way the current Labour Government is using the Points Based Immigration System to secure a disposable international labour force. The Sharpesville protesters were demonstrating against another form of immigration control, the pass laws, which restricted the movement of black people based on the needs of white employers.

I also just found out after reading an article on Corporation Watch, that G4S, the managers of the new Brook House detention centre have a contract to electronically monitor over 40,000 people globally (over 11,000 in Britain). Detention is big business. Wouldn't surprise me at all if a few MPs have shares in G4S.

As for the confused people out there, I'm pretty sure my black colleagues and comrades in TCAR don't want you to fight FOR them as victims. In TCAR we fight for solidarity, not pity. Come along, you'll find asylum seekers, refugees, white British, black British, migrant workers, sans papiers, employed, unemployed, religious, atheist, communist, socialist, social democrat, anarchist standing together behind a common anti-racist message.

We don't criticise other groups, individuals or charities who choose a different path to campaigning against deportations, against detention and against racism. We respect their right to do so. But we also demand our right to organise as we see best, which is an ongoing and democratic process of reflection, debate and discussion.

It is a shame that many TCAR members have infrequent access to the internet because I think it's actually quite insulting how black members of TCAR are often talked about by anonymous commentators on indymedia. You talk as though black people in TCAR are some sort of victim, who are manipulated by evil communists who just want to use them. Please, have a little more respect.

Together we are stronger!
Deportation is the crime! Lock up Labour!

I wonder what actions you confused people have actually taken yourselves.

It isnt about politics, nor is it about pity. Its about doing the right thing as human beings for other human beings.

"do not others as you would have them do unto you"

...oh and credit the "poor victims of the state" with the level of intelligence they deserve. They endured extremes to get here, I don't think they are going to be sucked into anything they have no wish to be a part of