British-born actor Ace Ruele is being deported to Jamaica
A British Eastenders actor faces deportation to Jamaica despite only visiting the country twice as a child, threatening his film career and potentially tearing his family apart.
The 33-year-old was born in London to a Jamaican mother – who did not have British citizenship at the time – and subsequently given indefinite leave to remain.
The actor says he then fell into the “wrong crowd” during his adolescence and was convicted of offences including robbery, aged 19, and jailed for three years in 2008. Upon release, he spent five months in an immigration detention centre when he successfully challenged deportation at the last minute.
While there, he successfully challenged deportation. But five years ago, his status was changed to limited leave to remain.
It means the actor, who has appeared in The Legend of Tarzan and New Blood, has to pay £2,389 every 30 months to stay in the UK.
He told the newspaper: 'I feel like I am being punished twice for a mistake I made years ago.
'I take responsibility for my actions, but, at the end of the day, I’ve served my time, have never reoffended, and I’m not a threat to society.'
However, following an appeal from the government, another judge overturned this decision and claimed that despite being a successful actor, he had a “financial incentive” to re-offend and hadn’t demonstrated family ties.
Mr Aristotles said he had been out of prison for four-and-a-half years when his indefinite leave to remain was revoked.
After prison and his successful appeal against deportation, Mr Aristotles went on to forge a promising career as an actor, appearing in several high profile films and TV shows.
And in recent years, he received a letter from the Home Office urging him to return to Jamaica, stating that he has no right to be here and threatening him with detention.
Mr Aristotles is now without a nationality because he does not hold Jamaican citizenship either.
It means he cannot travel for work and has lost out on opportunities - including in Canada, Spain and Italy - and he does not have access to benefits.
Mr Aristotles wrote a letter to the Home Office blaming institutional racism for his treatment. When an Upper Tribunal judge ruled his status should be downgraded, the court said his mention of racism 'undermined any suggestions at the appellant had come to terms with his offending'.
And a previous court's rejection of the decision to downgrade his status was not taken into consideration by the Upper Tribunal.
0 Comment