Lately, the government has tightened up immigration, which has recently led to many genuine cases being told they must leave the country.

Here in Eastbourne we have Vladimir Da Silva Pimentel, an Angolan refugee who arrived to settle with his family as a 16-year-old back in 2000. He is training to become an accountant and is a popular footballer with The Garden Bar at Sovereign Harbour.

Yet, in spite of having 15 family members in this country who have been granted British citizenship, he has been told by the Home Office he must return to Angola.

Vladimir has made his life here, his family are settled here and he clearly has high hopes for his future if he wins his fight to stay in the UK. Why should cases such as he be uprooted to satisfy greater pressure on immigration to exclude those who want to abuse the system or could be seen as a potential threat?

At the other end of the scale we have Samantha Crozier, a Canadian citizen who hit national headlines as the army wife who, despite her marriage to a British serviceman and being mother to two young boys, was told she must return home and apply for British residency from abroad.

Thankfully, the government reversed the decision to deport Mrs Crozier and she now has leave to stay, but it still seems strange that an army family had to jump through all those hoops. However, she says there are other non-British army wives who are still in a sticky situation and her battle continues.

There is clearly something wrong here. As a nation, we have a strong tradition of accepting citizens from all over the world, from all walks of life, who want to settle here honestly and make a difference.

Could this be a case of the pendulum swinging too far the other way?