Alie'Nation': Examining the links between (Cr)immigration controls of non-UK nationals experiencing homelessness and Modern Slavery within Greater Man

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In April 2022, the Nationality and Borders Act became law. It was met with outrage, with many calling it a huge step backwards for anti-slavery work (Crosby-Medlicott, 2022). In essence, Modern Slavery(MS) is being treated as an immigration issue, placing victims in precarious and traumatising situations, with the threat of deportation looming over those who come forward as victims. With pressured deadlines to produce 'proof of trauma' and blocked access to support due to criminal pasts (Crosby-Medlicott, 2022), this Act has revictimised survivors and increased the vulnerability to destitution and exploitation of many others. This project sets out to explore the explicit and implicit links between immigration laws, destitution, and exploitation within Greater Manchester (GM), using Border Criminology as a theoretical framework. This research will continue the work completed in 2021 for my PGT Dissertation, which studied how the criminalisation and victimisation of homeless migrants contributes to increasing vulnerabilities to exploitation. It was conducted during an uncertain time - the Covid-19 pandemic was dominating headlines, then Home Secretary, Priti Patel, had proposed a highly controversial immigration plan (Morgan, 2022), and post-Brexit policies were still unknown. In a similar vein, this2 thesis is set against a backdrop of political, social, and economic instability, domestically and globally. The aforementioned issues have had long term impacts on the welfare, healthcare, and immigration systems. In addition, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, displacing thousands of people across Europe, the rising cost of living, and the uncovered treatment of those temporarily accommodated in Home Office facilities (Taylor, 2022), have demonstrated the complexities of the current situation within the UK , and thus the necessity to research this area further. This context presents an opportunity to continue the research started in 2021 with added societal triggers which would assist further analysisinto the links between crimmigration, poverty, and exploitation.