Home Office Abandons Plans to Deport Osime Brown to Jamaica

London: A 22-year-old man who has autism and his family are celebrating after the Home Office abandoned plans to deport him to Jamaica. Osime Brown, who left Jamaica aged four to settle in the UK with his mother, Joan Martin, was facing deportation after being released from prison where he had been serving a sentence for stealing a friend’s mobile phone, though he and others said he did not do it. Martin has been fighting to halt her son’s deportation and a campaign against it had been gathering momentum, with demonstrations held in London and Glasgow at the weekend.

On Tuesday the Home Office abandoned its plans to deport him. Martin cried when she spoke to the Guardian: “We did it,” she said. “Our fight shows you should never give up. The Home Office has made the right decision to allow Osime to stay with his loving, caring family.” She expressed her gratitude to the many supporters who campaigned alongside her family to keep her son in the UK and also spoke warmly of the Home Office. “I will respond with love because we know no other way. Thank you for allowing my son to stay in his home and in the only country he has ever truly known. We are grateful. This goes to show that you can respond in a dynamic and just way. God bless you.”

Read more: Diane Taylor, Guardian, https://is.gd/w18juM