Free Movement’s pick of the past week’s media reporting on immigration and asylum.

The government’s technical note on settled status for EU citizens was widely reported, with the right-wing press focusing on proposed criminal record checks (see Daily Mail and Telegraph).

The European Parliament isn’t impressed, though, and says that the notion that agreement on citizens’ rights is “within touching distance” is false (Guardian). There was a brief round of negotiations on Thursday and Friday, with the media spotlight on Northern Ireland rather than guarantees for expats.

High-profile academic Jonathan Portes has suggested a way of controlling immigration within the single market, telling the Times that the circle could be squared if “EU workers who wished to remain in the UK for more than 90 days should be required to register for a National Insurance number on arrival and have to find work within those 90 days”.

Lord Kerr, credited with drafting Article 50, pops up again to advise that Brexit can yet be called off (PA/Daily Mail), although the legal relevance of the respected diplomats views is open to question.

The Sun tries to push the notion that even if Brexit does go through, it won’t be a total disaster, with a report that “the Canary Islands are bidding to maintain free movement” with the UK. So that’s all right then.

Here at home, a Home Office-DWP data sharing agreement could mean that single parent families are “left destitute and at risk of deportation”, according to Politics.co.uk.

Officials also wants to deport an elderly South African lady, she and her 71-year-old husband told the Daily Record. The Scottish newspaper calls it evidence of a “Tory immigration crackdown”.

The Scottish government also struck a pro-immigration note with a submission to the Migration Advisory Committee claiming to show that EU immigration benefits the Scottish economy to the tune of £4.4 billion a year (BBC News).

Across the Irish Sea, a First-tier Tribunal case on spouse visas is reported as “couple wins appeal for visa after Derry wife refuses to identify as British” (Irish Times). We’re looking into analysis of the decision.

Returning to England, there is a less happy story in the Guardian, which says that a Syrian asylum seeker could have his asylum claim rejected due to a littering fine.

And we end with perhaps the biggest immigration story of the week: a Somali man’s award of £78,500 for unlawful detention. Sky News and others focus on Abdulrahman Mohammed’s background as a “violent and prolific offender”. Check back for an explanation of this decision on Free Movement. Spoiler alert: the puisne judges of the High Court do not look favourably on 445 days of unlawful detention, no matter who the detainee.