Debate contribution: Illegal Immigration
Debate contribution by Mrs Naomi Long on .
- MLA
- Mrs Naomi Long
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 30 June 2026
- Type
- Debate contribution (made as a minister)
- Business
- Oral Answers to Questions
- Heading
- Illegal Immigration
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5653280
Read the official Assembly record
Text
As I said, a lot of people in our community have concerns. I have spoken with Stephen Ogilvie's family, who are concerned that the horrific attack on him was weaponised and used to bring people on to the street and to make victims of other people. They spoke passionately to me about the many foreign nationals working in the health service who have taken care of Stephen in his time of need and about the fact that one of the people who rescued him was an immigrant. Rather than focusing on migration status, we should, as I said, focus on the crime. The crime that was committed was horrendous. Someone has been arrested and charged. The case will be prosecuted through the courts, and justice will take its course. In a civilised society, that is the contract that we make: we do not take the law into our own hands. We do not inflict retribution on innocent people because they happen to have associated with someone who has committed a heinous crime — I am sure that you would agree with that — so let us not do that simply because somebody is of a different skin colour or nationality.
200 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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