We kindly ask all organisations and community action and support groups in the Status Now Network to contact MPs in/around their area to introduce the StatusNow4All campaign highlighting the need for ‘Leave to Remain’ status to be granted to all undocumented migrants and all migrants with insecure status who are currently in the UK. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are keen to initiate dialogue with as many MPs as possible on this urgent matter, so please send a letter or email to MPs you feel may support our campaign and follow up on any contact. Please refer to the template letters below and amend where necessary.

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Dear [Name] MP

Status Now For All / Leave to Remain status: EDM #658

The need is pressing to grant Leave to Remain to undocumented migrants and migrants with insecure status in the UK, including those going through the legal process, as identified in EDM#658 tabled on 24 June 2020, 2019-21 Session: https://edm.parliament.uk/early-day-motion/57173/leave-to-remain-status

Some of the most vulnerable and marginalised members of our society, who make up an estimated 800,000 – 1.2 million people (including 215,000 children), need to have their immigration status regularised, thereby allowing them to:

Gain fundamental rights so that they can live with dignity and participate in society fully and freely
Work openly and safely and, through taxes, contribute even further to the economy and the public purse
Access housing and be able to rent without the risk of being discriminated against or exploited by landlords (thereby preventing homelessness)
Access healthcare and therefore contribute to improving our management of personal and public health issues like diabetes and COVID-19
Access other services that are currently denied to them
Live without fear of being detained or deported
Live without the dangers of being exploited and discriminated against by employers, sexual predators and others, that arise from living without secure immigration status
Gain a safe, lawful and defined route to settlement in the UK

We are aware that some MPs may not want to sign any EDM, however if you have made a decision not to support our campaign in principle, we would be interested in understanding more about why you have made that decision. The Status Now Network brings together people who have experience of living in the margins alongside those who believe that Status Now For All is the most practical, reasonable and ethical solution to ensuring that there is equal access to housing, healthcare and food.

Our concern for the health and safety of everyone lies behind this campaign. If significant numbers of people are at physical and psychological risk due to: poverty and destitution; lack of access to services and to vital messages about staying safe and keeping healthy; and the fear of being identified, then the community in general is also at risk. No one knows how long Covid-19 will continue to pose a public health threat, and therefore lives and livelihoods will continue to be endangered.

We welcome the opportunity to discuss this issue further with you. If you do support our campaign, thank you. It would be helpful for us to know if you would be willing to ask some questions at PMQs, table PQs or to talk with other MPs, specifically those in areas with similar populations to those in your constituency. We would like you to consider asking them about the ongoing impact on society if ‘Leave to Remain’ is not granted. In contrast, there are many benefits to society in supporting the granting of ‘Leave to Remain’ to undocumented and insecure migrants who are currently in the UK.

We extend an open invitation to a virtual meeting with you and your colleagues to further discuss our campaign and would also like to keep you updated on our campaign, so please let us know how best to do so and please do contact us if you have any other ideas.

For more information, visit Status Now: https://www.statusnow4all.org

Thank you very much for your attention and we look forward to your response.

Yours sincerely,

[Your Name + Organisation/Group]

Letter for constituents to MPs (organisations/groups can share this with their networks via mailing lists/texts/social media asking for people to contact their MPs directly):

Important: Please always include your home address when you write to your MP so that they will know you live in their constituency.

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Leave to Remain status: EDM #658

Dear [Name] MP,

I’m a British citizen and I think every human being irrespective of their current immigration status, should be given the same rights as me, unconditionally.

As your constituent, I am writing to ask you to sign and support EDM #658 which calls for undocumented migrants and all those in the legal process to be granted Leave to Remain.

If their immigration status was regularised, this would allow them to:

Gain fundamental rights so that they can live with dignity and participate in society fully and freely
Work openly and safely and, through taxes, contribute even further to the economy and the public purse
Access housing and be able to rent without the risk of being discriminated against or exploited by landlords (thereby preventing homelessness)
Access healthcare and therefore contribute to improving our management of personal and public health issues like diabetes and COVID-19
Access other services that are currently denied to them
Live without fear of being detained or deported
Live without the dangers of being exploited and discriminated against by employers, sexual predators and others, that arise from living without secure immigration status
Gain a safe, lawful and defined route to settlement in the UK

Please support this motion, based as it is in our shared humanity: it is of the utmost importance to me and the many people affected!

EDM: https://edm.parliament.uk/early-day-motion/57173/leave-to-remain-status

Yours sincerely,

[Your Name]

Alternative letter from constituents to MPs (please include your home address as above):

Leave to Remain status: EDM #658

Dear [Name] MP

As your constituent, I am writing to ask you to sign and support EDM #658 which calls for undocumented migrants and all those in the legal process to be granted Leave to Remain. There is an urgent need for some of the most vulnerable and marginalised members of our society, who make up an estimated 800,000 – 1.2 million people (including 215,000 children), to have their immigration status regularised thereby allowing them to:

Gain fundamental rights so that they can live with dignity and participate in society fully and freely
Work openly and safely and, through taxes, contribute even further to the economy and the public purse
Access housing and be able to rent without the risk of being discriminated against or exploited by landlords (thereby preventing homelessness)
Access healthcare and therefore contribute to improving our management of personal and public health issues like diabetes and COVID-19
Access other services that are currently denied to them
Live without fear of being detained or deported
Live without the dangers of being exploited and discriminated against by employers, sexual predators and others, that arise from living without secure immigration status
Gain a safe, lawful and defined route to settlement in the UK

The COVID-19 crisis has presented extra and unimaginable challenges for those who are undocumented in the UK. The unprecedented restrictions to work and to movement poses an extreme problem for the many undocumented migrants ineligible to receive any social or welfare support from the Government. Without assistance, many undocumented migrants are unable to provide for themselves and their families.

Granting undocumented people Leave to Remain is a reasonable thing to do. Continuing to leave undocumentd people without their status means hundreds of thousands of people falling into ever deeper and more extreme hardship alongside the many hundreds of thousands with Status who are also confronting this threat at this time. In the interests of public health and safety, everyone needs to be able to protect themselves and those around them as none of us are safe until we are all safe. One of the benefits of achieving Status Now For All includes public bodies acquiring accurate knowledge about who is actually in the UK which is most relevant for realistic planning. Another is that the undocumented people who are already here could begin to feel confident enough to access health processes (including test and trace mechanisms) and other services currently unavailable to them.

Please support this motion, based as it is in our shared humanity: it is of the utmost importance to me and the many people affected!

EDM #658: https://edm.parliament.uk/early-day-motion/57173/leave-to-remain-status

Yours sincerely,

[Your Name]

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