This is a new low from this government: the Home Office has put in place a law forcing banks to spy on every current account in the UK to check immigration statuses. And then block the accounts of anyone who appears -- often wrongly -- on a Home Office list

That means young people, people with families in this country, and those who have fled here to escape persecution for their gender or sexuality will all be targeted by this inhumane scheme. And there are fears the scheme could be further expanded to EU nationals after Brexit, too.

This is a huge overreach, even by the standards of Theresa May’s ‘hostile environment’. Simply put, it is not the job of major corporations to do the work of the home office -- that’s a dangerous road for any country to go down.

High Street banks have already signed up to this deplorable scheme, hiding behind a ‘only following the letter of the law’ defence. It’s up to us to speak up against the racist policy and stand in solidarity with the migrants of Britain.

I stand with migrants and oppose the government's intrusive, inhumane policy of banks performing immigration checks.

The Home Office expects to identify 6,000 people in the first year of the quarterly checks, whose accounts will be shut down or frozen “to make it harder for them to establish or maintain a settled life in the UK”.

Even the Home Office themselves admitted that the move will simply force vulnerable people deeper into the ‘hidden economy.’ And the ‘hostile environment’ policy has a history of major errors, too -- with as many as 1 in 10 people wrongly refused new accounts because they ‘failed’ an immigration status check.

And just imagine the effect of having your bank account frozen, and what amounts to having your property seized? Unable to pay rent, buy food or meet costs of travel to get to work, people will be left destitute thanks to an error-riddled list and collusion by private corporations.

Satbir Singh, CEO for the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, said: “Immigration status is very complex, and the Home Office consistently gives out incorrect information and guidance. Migrants and ethnic minorities with every right to be here will be affected by the imposition of these new checks.”

High Street banks say they're simply complying with the Immigration Act 2016. But this is more a moral issue than a legal one: the checks will undoubtedly target vulnerable individuals who are already feeling the worst effects of Brexit and the effects of precarious, gig economy jobs.

It’s so important for us to stand in solidarity with the migrant workers of Britain, who are the backbone of our economy and don’t deserve this sort of systemic intrusion of their privacy!

Stand in solidarity with the migrants of Britain! May’s shameful hostile environment policies need to go in the dustbin of history.

We can’t stand idly by as Britain becomes a cold and unwelcoming place for those looking for a better life. People who come to this country overwhelmingly contribute to our society -- this is no way to thank them.

Almost 60,000 SumOfUs members like you stood in solidarity with the migrant workers of Britain last year against this government’s ‘foreign workers’ lists -- forcing the government to row back significantly on its proposal. Let’s come together again to stop the government from co-opting private companies to further its callous agenda.

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