‘I want to stay here’: Grandmother faces deportation after living in Australia for 40 years

In a shocking turn of events, a grandmother who has called Australia home for over four decades is now facing deportation back to the United Kingdom, a country she no longer has any ties with.

This unexpected predicament has left her, her family, and her community in Northern New South Wales in a state of disbelief and distress.



Meet Mary Ellis, a 74-year-old ‘local hero’ who has been an integral part of her community for the past 40 years.

Ellis, originally from London, moved to Australia when she was just 31.

She was under the impression that she and her then-boyfriend had been granted permanent visas, a belief that shaped her life in Australia.


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Mary Ellis has lived in Australia for 40 years and has been volunteering ever since. Credit: A Current Affair / Youtube



Ellis has since built a life in Australia, raising her son and two granddaughters and dedicating her time to volunteering with the Salvation Army and feeding the homeless in Tweed Heads.

Her selfless service to the community even earned her a nomination for the NSW Volunteer of the Year award in 2023.

Despite her contributions to Australian society, Ellis is now facing deportation due to a sudden decision by the Department of Home Affairs.

The department claimed that Ellis was never granted permanent residency, a fact that Ellis disputes, stating that she has always believed herself to be a permanent resident.



'I have a Driver's Licence, ID card, Medicare Card, and Pension card. Everything Australians have,' Ellis said.

'I thought, well, I'm a permanent resident. You know, I carry on doing my daily—what I do every day. Nobody said anything.'

‘This is my home, and I love Australia...I want to stay here,’ Ellis said while in tears.

‘Just let me get Australian citizenship, please let me...that's what I want.’

Ellis' case has sparked a wave of support, with migration agent Stanley Schneider offering his assistance pro bono.

Schneider argued that Ellis should be considered an absorbed person under the Migration Act 1958, given her long-standing presence in Australia and her clean record.

He said Home Affairs ‘suddenly’ decided Ellis had to leave the country.

‘They contacted Mary and asked her to go into the Brisbane office,’ he said.

‘And she went, and they told her that she shouldn't be in Australia.’

‘She's always paid her taxes…she's never even had a speeding ticket. She's never infringed anything. She's never offended anyone,’ Schneider added.

The Act stipulates that a person must have been in Australia since April 2, 1984, and not have left the country.

However, the Department of Home Affairs alleged that Ellis left the country three times under different aliases, a claim that Ellis vehemently denied.

‘I love Australia. I didn't want to go anywhere else,’ Ellis said.



Adding to the confusion, the department claims that Ellis's then-boyfriend, known to her as 'Martin Ellis', was actually 'Trevor Warren', who is now deceased.

Ellis disputed this, saying, ‘I'd say it's wrong. I came with Martin Ellis, my partner at the time, on a permanent visa.’

‘I wasn't really with him for all that long, you know, not very long. And then we went our separate ways.’

Ellis maintained that she has documents to prove her continuous presence in Australia, including a job reference from a Tasmanian restaurant and a Medicare enrolment letter signed by the then federal health minister.

Schneider argued that these documents would not have been issued if Ellis had not been in the country.

'Mary Ellis is a decent person. A person we should be absolutely thrilled to have in Australia,' Schneider said.

'And she's an Australian, Let's face it.'



The Department of Home Affairs, while not commenting on individual cases, stated that 'people who do not have the right to remain in Australia are expected to depart.'

‘Non-citizens are expected to comply with requirements to advise the Department of incorrect information and give correct answers in response to questions that may arise in visa applications, passenger cards, or in responses to notices issued by the Department,’ the spokesperson said.

You can watch A Current Affair’s coverage below:



Credit: A Current Affair / Youtube

Key Takeaways

  • Mary Ellis, a grandmother who has lived in Australia for over 40 years and is highly regarded by her community, is facing deportation to the UK.
  • Despite contributing to society and having no criminal record, Ellis never received permanent residency, a situation she was reportedly unaware of.
  • A migration agent is supporting her pro bono, arguing that she should be allowed to stay under the Migration Act as she's an 'absorbed person.'
  • The Department of Home Affairs has stated she must leave while not commenting directly on her case, indicating people without the right to remain are expected to depart.
What do you think about Mary Ellis’ situation? Have you or someone you know faced similar challenges? Share your experiences and thoughts in the comments below.
 
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Throw out a British citizen but keep the scum from the Middle East? Pig dodging, camel fornicating lickers of dog balls.

Show me an honest Muslim towel head and I will show you the offspring of Santa Claus and Snow White. Grumpy wasn't Happy because he got Nun!

*Enters George Pell*
 
Throw out a British citizen but keep the scum from the Middle East? Pig dodging, camel fornicating lickers of dog balls.

Show me an honest Muslim towel head and I will show you the offspring of Santa Claus and Snow White. Grumpy wasn't Happy because he got Nun!

*Enters George Pell*
My sentiments exactly......
 
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Throw out a British citizen but keep the scum from the Middle East? Pig dodging, camel fornicating lickers of dog balls.

Show me an honest Muslim towel head and I will show you the offspring of Santa Claus and Snow White. Grumpy wasn't Happy because he got Nun!

*Enters George Pell*
Do you think you're a little bit prejudiced?
 
This government won’t deport illegal immigrants who have managed to get classified as refugees simply because they don’t agree with the policies of those criminals original counties. Now they have let well over 100 with criminal records lose in our society and although 27 have offended significantly in the last three months they get to stay on the public purse. Here is a lovely woman who has given tirelessly to her community and they want to deport her! Obviously it was a slow day in the office and someone decided to troll through the records to see if there was someone who didn’t fit the paperwork. They found this lady and are now hounding her, rather than helping her, to get the paperwork right and let her become a citizen. What has Australia become when public servants spend time and money disrupting the lives of the sorts of people who have made this country great. It’s not so great anymore. I vote she stays and is made an automatic citizen.
 
This government won’t deport illegal immigrants who have managed to get classified as refugees simply because they don’t agree with the policies of those criminals origina counties. Now they have let well over 100 with criminal records lose in our society and although 27 have offended significantly in the last three months they get to stay on the public purse. Here is a lovely woman who has given tirelessly to her community and they want to deport her! Obviously it was a slow day in the office and someone decided to troll through the records to see if there was someone who did fit the paperwork. They found this lady and are now hounding her rather than helping her to get the paperwork right and let her become a citizen. What has Australia become when public servants spend time and money disrupting the lives of the sorts of people who have made this country great. It’s not so great anymore. I vote she stays and is made an automatic citizen.
Hear hear
 
Some years ago I was told by immigration I was not in the country, I had visited Fiji and on return, after a couple of weeks, immigration failed to record my return and had to prove that I had returned while standing in the immigration office so yes they make mistakes.
 
Some years ago I was told by immigration I was not in the country, I had visited Fiji and on return, after a couple of weeks, immigration failed to record my return and had to prove that I had returned while standing in the immigration office so yes they make mistakes.
You have to check on everyone .....
 
this entire page should be sent to Canberra along with as many signatures as possible. Remember the family from Billo in Qld. Took years but finally common sense prevailed. The entire town backed these people.
 
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I couldn't agree with you more. Times like this I feel ashamed to be an Aussie. We should all raise our voices in support of this lady. It doesn't make sense to me that we say "YEA" for the rotten royals and pay for their holidays, let the garbage out of jails yet do this to a lady who has done nothing but work and pay her taxes in this country.
the royals are not rotten. change the system and you will soon know what rotten is.
 
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Throw out a British citizen but keep the scum from the Middle East? Pig dodging, camel fornicating lickers of dog balls.

Show me an honest Muslim towel head and I will show you the offspring of Santa Claus and Snow White. Grumpy wasn't Happy because he got Nun!

*Enters George Pell*
I would add to the list by throwing out Australian racists. Off you go Spud, back to the Pomgolian Veggie Patch you came from.
 
Very sad ! And the Minister for Immigration, Andrew Giles, released serial criminals like sex offenders, drug traffickers, etc. loose in the communities. He is weak as pi$$ and so is his PM and Government. Anyone who still is a Labor supporter and votes for them, should suffer more than the average person.
Ah , sweet Australia, land of the "fair go", populated by criminals deported from Mother England. Waltzing Matilda! The only difference between the swagman and the squatter is that the squatter had beaten the swagman to nicking stuff and could call on the "troopers" to help him recover stolen jumbucks.
 
Even Australians can, and are, rapists, murderers, child molesters etc. Don't lump an entire race or religion for the bad apples.
The "Windrush" Generation in the UK are a bunch of people with negroid ancestry, whose ancestors had ended up as slaves in the Caribbean Islands. Brought in from the Caribbean during the 1950s by the British Government and subsequently deported by an Indian-born or Pakistani -born Minister for Home Affairs in the UK. Or was the then Minister for Home Affairs simply a white racist as opposed to to one from the Indian sub-continent? If so, that Minister could be made an Honorary Australian Racist.

Yes. I detest racists. They remind me of those Germans who tried to kill my parents.

PS. I must apologise to those two women who became former Ministers for Home Affairs in Pomgolia. I rather think they were born in the UK of immigrant families, which makes them Pomgolian and which is still no excuse for their being utterly unpleasant people. We could also make them Honorary Australians as they would fit into Australia's bigot-class very neatly. Waltzing Matilda!
 
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Isn't it amazing that someone that hasn't done anything wrong, especially since our Government issued her with Driver's Licence, ID card, Medicare Card (I know you have to be an Australian Citizen to get this) and Pension card took tax from her when she was working and is someone that has been an upstanding citizen in all that time, is targeted by the incompetent government. They let undesirables out into our society after being locked up and shrug their shoulders. This is all so wrong
Permanent residents can get a Medicare card.
 
That poor lady. She should be allowed to stay here. She has all the documents to prove she is a citizen here. Let's hope she is allowed to stay
 
Please, let's take religion out of this conversation as it has nothing to do with it. This is about Mary being asked to leave HER country. If she is deported, then make big waves to get rid of all the illegal persons released to live off government handouts.
 
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