Terrible message

A year has passed since it was revealed 11,000 illegal aliens had been cleared to get security work in the United Kingdom. Want to take a guess how many have been deported.

Immigration minister Phil Woolas admitted only a handful of those caught up in the security guard blunders have been removed.

The Security Industry Authority, the body responsible for vetting all bouncers, car clampers and security staff, came under fire in late 2007 when it emerged up to 11,000 illegal immigrants had been cleared to work as security guards.

It included 12 illegal workers approved for security jobs with the Metropolitan Police, including one guarding the Prime Minister's car.

Some 3,000 have since proved their right to be in the UK but of the remaining 7,729 who had their licences revoked, just 35 have been removed, according to figures obtained by the Conservatives.

Shadow home secretary Chris Grayling said: "This sends a terrible message around the world about the willingness, or lack of it, of this Government to police our borders and control the flow of migrant workers into the country.

"They know who these people are, where they were working, and that they are here illegally.

Henry Kissinger once said if you need a bureaucracy to move slow, they will move slowly. If you need a bureaucracy to move fast, they will move slowly. If the UK immigration services are anything like here in the US, legal immigrants are probably getting a tougher time. Probably because its cheaper to deny immigrant status to those who have a right to it, then deport people who have no right to be in the country.