Britain's immigration mess

Think we got it bad with our immigration problems here? Take a look at Britain's.

There's been a story running there that's been completely overlooked by our media. Charles Clarke, Britain's Home Secretary, has admitted that immigrants in Britain illegally have been committing crimes, many of them violent, and being released at an alarming rate. The whereabouts of most of them are unknown.

And we're not just talking about shoplifters and pickpockets here. From one Telegraph article:

Mr Clarke, who is fighting to hold on to his Cabinet post, said that, of the 79 most serious offenders identified last week - convicted of murder, manslaughter, rape and child sex attacks - 32 had been tracked down and officials had ruled out deporting nine others. The Home Office confirmed that the remaining 38 were still at large. A further 11 offenders in the category of "more serious offences" had been identified among the 1,023 released overall.

And:

In the latest damaging development for the Government, it was revealed that an Iraqi Kurd wanted for questioning in connection with the attempted murder of a man and a sexual attack on a 15-year-old girl had been recommended for deportation after a previous court case.

On Tuesday it emerged that a 25-year-old Somalian, Mustaf Jama, 25, was allowed to stay in Britain only months before he was implicated in the murder of Pc [that's Brit for police officer --ed.] Sharon Beshenivsky in Bradford last November. He is on the run.

This Daily Telegraph editorial summarizes the problem well. The issue shines a harsh and glaring light on the problems with membership in the EU and its attendant forfeiture of sovereignty. While prime minister Blair promises to implement harsh deportation rules, the EU tells him he can't do that as it would be in contravention of EU policy.

On the other hand, it might be convenient to have Brussels to blame for our problem.