Fernando Fontoura, 33, moved from Portugal to the UK at age 12 and has lived in Britain for 21 years. He was arrested on 22 July after parking his motorbike near a grocery store in south-east London and detained at a centre near Gatwick for 29 days. Fontoura says he has family and a fiancée in the UK, has paid taxes for over ten years, completed GCSEs and NVQs, and received a national insurance number at 16. His parents moved to London in 2004; his father worked in construction and his mother worked as a cleaner. Immigration enforcement raids targeting migrant workers increased about 50% in the first ten months of the Labour government compared with the previous year. The Home Office opposed bail citing no evidence of a 2004 entry, while official documents demonstrate Fontoura grew up in the UK. Refugee charities criticized the intensified enforcement, which forms part of a government strategy tied to political objectives.
I've been here [in the UK] for 21 years. It is completely unfair, he said. [The Home Office] says I have no lawful basis to be in the UK. But my family is here. My fiancee is here. I've been paying taxes here for over 10 years. I studied here. I did my GCSEs and NVQs here. I received my insurance number at the age of 16.
I made my life here, Fontoura said. I grew up in England. I picked up the language, the culture and everything else. I integrated into the community and I've been here ever since, apart from a few years travelling.
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