EU citizens who applied for Settled Status are facing Home Office enforcement action. This must stop, writes leading European Movement supporter Caroline Lucas.

It is just over one month since the government’s deadline for applying to the EU Settled Status Scheme passed - and EU citizens are already paying the price. 

In just the last week: 

• It emerged tens of thousands of elderly and vulnerable people are at risk because they didn’t manage to apply for Settled Status because it was inaccessible to them
• The Home Office has started deporting our EU friends and neighbours, even  those who have applied for the scheme. This is potentially illegal and breaks the withdrawal agreement
• The Home Office has refused to acknowledge its mistakes, even as judges have ruled its deportations unlawful 

For months the European Movement UK has been raising the alarm. 

As the Settled Status deadline neared, we took our advertising van to the heart of Westminster, delivering a message of defiance to Home Office. Our van and its message have since appeared across numerous national newspapers.

Later, thousands of our campaigners wrote to Home Secretary Priti Patel, forcing her to respond. But instead of recognising her errors, she doubled down. She insists that everything is fine, but we know this is not true. We know that thousands of excluded people are at risk of having their lives torn apart.

EU citizens are welcome in our communities, and we will keep up the struggle to make sure their rights are protected. We forced the government to take notice, but we have to keep going to make them change course. 

And we need your support to do it. 

We rely on people like you who care deeply about protecting people’s human rights, to donate to our campaigns and make our letter campaigns, our story-led campaigning, our direct action possible. 

Thank you so much for helping us to resist this treatment of our friends and neighbours.

Please donate whatever you can to our campaign today and help us fight back against this government’s abuses. Thank you so much.