An Angus woman who faces deportation has made an impassioned plea to remain in the UK with her teenage daughter.
Angela Faye Smith, 46, is now living illegally in Arbroath after being given the bombshell news that her latest visa application had been denied.
The Angus Council worker, originally from America, was looking forward to spending the rest of her life with her partner Matthew Tribble and her 13-year-old daughter Ceilidh, who attends Arbroath High School.
However, a letter from the Home Office confirmed her worst fears that she cannot live or work in the UK anymore.
Angela, who first came to Angus in the late 1980s and has lived in Arbroath since 2007, would have to leave her daughter, a fully-fledged UK citizen, behind.
“I work in the community but that has nothing to do with it my child needs a mother. I’m her sole provider and they’re telling me I have to leave, and leave her,” she said.
“They kept my passport and visa so I am not allowed to work, which also means our home-buying ventures are at a standstill.
“I feel very weak and vulnerable at the moment but if you light a match under me I will erupt in flames.
“My daughter is an EU national and UK citizen so the Home Office are violating her rights by demanding that her mother, primary carer and sole means of support, must leave her.”
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