> he should not be here in the first place

yeah. as you said he is an illegal immigrant.

why is he there? because... he has a better life where he is than where he came from? all i'm doing is shifting the focus away from the legality / illegality of it all towards the understandability of it all... i guess what i'm doing is... well... personally... i have a lot of sympathy for the plight of illegal immigrants. people have posted supporting the idea of turning him in. i guess i'm posting in support of the idea of not turning him in. why isn't he a legal immigrant? because of immigration? sometimes people aren't allowed to immigrate even though the country might actually rely on the immigrants for the countries economy (e.g., what would the US do if all the mexican immigrants actually were deported???). and yet... the US won't grant them legal immigrant status. kind of a double blind what are they supposed to do kind of thing...

> he is not entitled to any government benefits so works illegaly

right. he works.

> pays no taxes

he would be deported if he tried to pay taxes.

> yet uses the healthcare, and other services

how does he access healthcare and other services without a tax number or whatever?

> and will continue to do so until he is caught and deported.

and then he does what? goes home... do you know what his life was like back home? do you know why he wants to be where he is? is he hoping for a better life for his children if they are accepted as residents (when he has them)? things must be pretty bad back home for one to live in a country under threat of deportation (i would have thought). did he confide in you when he told you his status?

> all the time it is us/me the british tax payer who is paying for his free ride

how much does he get for working under the table? does he make more for not paying tax or does he make less for not paying tax (i.e., does he make less because people can get away with paying less than the minimum wage even)? he is working... he is working hard by the sounds of it... i don't really get what sense he is getting a 'free ride'.

> i have sent a email to the immigration people with the address he is staying at before i posted this reply

ah. done done can't be undone.

i'm sorry.