As a charity dedicated to supporting people to move away from and stay off the streets of London, we stand against the new rough sleeping immigration rules.

The Connection at St Martin’s puts our clients’ best interests first. We are opposed to these regulations which give the Secretary of State the power to refuse or withdraw status from, and remove, non-UK nationals who are rough sleeping.

We provide specialist immigration advice and casework to our clients and are registered with the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC). Our staff will not supply details of our advice and work with individuals to government and other statutory bodies for immigration purposes without the explicit consent of these individuals, and where we believe it is not in our clients’ best interests to do so.

As an organisation, we commit to providing all clients with information on where to access independent immigration advice (if we cannot support them ourselves). We also commit to training our staff on the latest immigration regulations, so they are aware of the impact of decisions, and to put measures in place to review policies and practice in partnership with our workforce.

In May, The Connection at St Martin’s was one of a large group of homeless organisations which signed a Joint Sector Statement on the new immigration regulations.

We are now signatories to the national campaign, #SupportDontDeport, led by Crisis and Homeless Link, and we pledge to do everything in our power to support those who need it, regardless of their immigration status.