Airline passenger news and views

It is a real disgrace that we have let all these people into our country and simply do not know where they are.

The real question is why universities are having to admit so many international students, the answer being because they can't afford to operate otherwise.
I think it's also important to note that the vast majority of the students to whom you refer aren't simply slipping through the net as Mrs Jenkins seems to think. They are quite legitimately transferring to a different classification of visa.
Also, I question your view that our immigration policy is 'lenient'. Granted, as a member of the EU we can't do anything about EU immigration but aside from that the Points Based System in operation since 2008 is one of the toughest systems around.
Finally, I agree that we should be training up British workers to fill vacancies but the reality is that it'd be a generation before we really started to see the fruits of that labour. In the meantime it'd be lunacy to clamp down further on immigration. Immigration boosts the UK economy by £6 billion a year. In the present economic climate the sooner people wake up to that fact the better.

This is just one more example of our Government's complete failure to control our borders. How can we, as an island, have all these people here when we do not really know who they are or what they are doing?
If we we able to cut down the number of people then two-thirds of our problems would go away with them.

Yes, lets put a stop to immigration completely. Hmmm, don't we have an ageing population? And doesn't that mean that in a few years we will not be able to afford pensions and that our old will be living in even worse conditions than they already do? And where will we find people to look after them? We seem to have a problem. We definitely need to import more (younger) people but we don't like immigrants so whatever can we do.
I know, let's wait until our population has aged and we become really desperate and only then import labour (which we WILL desperately need). That seems like a good idea.
But then, with a country full of nothing but pensioners and an economy with high taxes needed to pay for NHS, pensions etc. will the immigrants want to come?
The immigrants are not a drain, WE NEED THEM. We should stop whining about them and accept them as friends. Only then can we be sure that they will accept us as friends. And we need them to be our friends because when we are old and frail, it is they who will be taking care of us.

Generalisation is so damaging to logical arguments.
We have a couple of million people on the dole, these are people who could work and simply do not bother to do so. They are often young and fit but just badly educated. Nevertheless, they can work and do the jobs that would free up the more productive people.
Do I want to go back to families in big houses and plenty of servants? If it generates money and wealth for the country and lets each person work according to their skills and abilities the, damn right I do.
There are two Aussie girls working at our local hospital, they contribute, are they immigrants? There are some families living on benefits in the next town, wearing Muslim dress and doing nothing for our country or community, they are also immigrants. I cannot view them in the same light. I welcome one and want rid of the other.
We need to get real, stop referring to immigrants and concentrate on those who can help us in our old age.

Even the new Labour leader, Ed the Horse, thinks too much immigration is wrong. I do not know what he will think next week or whether he will do anything about it but he did at least mention it.

The idea that we have lost control of our borders goes against 1,000 years of civilisation. The primary responsibility for any nation-state government is to protect the borders and to protect the inhabitants. Nothing else comes close to this responsibility.

I assume that our colleges and universities get a considerable proportion of their income from overseas students. There are also, probably, benefits for visiting and local students from the mix. What I do not understand is why it is out of control?
Surely, you give someone a visa for a period and at the end of the period they leave or suffer the consequences. I lived for a while in the USA and they have a very simple and strict process. When your visa expires, you leave. If you overstay then the penalties are extreme. You will probably be banned from re-visting for life and will suffer fines, imprisonment and forced deportation. This is not just for terrorists and criminals, it is for anyone that betrays the privilege of entry.
Can we please take the same line?