The UK Home Office's war on migration has suffered a setback: an American head-teacher had lived in Scotland for nearly ten years will be allowed to stay and help his British wife of four years as she begins cancer treatments. The Home Office had been absolutely set on deporting David MacIsaac, having declared his marriage "a sham," despite the massive shortage of qualified head teachers. But after the pesky Observer newspaper called attention to MacIsaac's plight, and Scottish politicians took up his cause, the poor Home Office was forced to change direction, causing irreparable economic harm to the private security company that would have otherwise been enriched by a government contract to shackle MacIsaac and physically abuse him all the way back to America.
But have no fear: Britain's new migration policies will ensure that countless other MacIsaacs will be cruelly taken from their homes and families in an effort to pander to the Daily Mail, bigots, and crypto-bigots who say things like "Oh, I'm not a racist, but when people arrive too fast for us to assimilate them, it doesn't do anyone any good" (or its cousin, "I'm no bigot, but certain groups just don't want to assimilate.")
David MacIsaac, an American who has worked in Scotland for almost a decade, had applied for leave to remain in the UK indefinitely. In September he was stunned to be told by the Home Office that it was sending him back to the US and considered his four-year marriage to a Scottish artist a sham.
The Home Office's decision to back down came two weeks after the Observer highlighted the plight of MacIsaac, whose wife, Susan, has cancer and is due to commence a course of treatment next week. He said: "I am grateful for the Observer's welcome intervention and for the way they treated my story."
American teacher can stay in Britain [Kevin McKenna/The Guardian]
