Illegal migrants are 'gaming the British system' and now face fresh crackdown
Exclusive: The Express can reveal almost 700 people were arrested by Home Office Immigration Enforcement teams in October, with nearly 200 facing deportation.
Shabana Mahmood has vowed to “rip away” incentives for illegal migrants “gaming the British system”. The Home Secretary is set to unveil the “most sweeping reforms to tackle illegal migration in modern times”, with human rights laws and residency rights overhauled.
And migrants working illegally will face further crackdowns, with Ms Mahmood declaring they will be “arrested, detained and removed” as part of measures to secure Britain’s borders. The Daily Express can reveal almost 700 people were arrested by Home Office Immigration Enforcement teams in October, with nearly 200 now facing deportation. It comes as almost 40,000 migrants have crossed the Channel this year, heaping pressure on ministers to ramp up efforts to prevent small boat crossings.
Read more: Huge Labour shake up as top job in the police is axed
Read more: Robert Jenrick threatened with drill at 'worst' car boot sale for stolen tools
Read more: David Lammy did lose fourth prisoner in huge Labour blunder
Ms Mahmood will tighten the rules around Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights to limit the number of foreign criminals, failed asylum seekers and visa overstayers using the right to a family life to avoid deportation.
She is also set to fight “lawfare with lawfare”, it is understood, with the Home Office prepared to fight every dubious asylum or protection claim in courts.
It comes after a spike in bogus claims from Channel migrants trying to avoid deportation to France using modern slavery claims.
Ms Mahmood told the Daily Express: "Illegal migrants are gaming the British system, undercutting our workers and wages.
"I am ripping away the incentives for people that draw illegal migrants to Britain.
"Those found to be illegally working in beauty salons, car washes and as delivery drivers will be arrested, detained and removed from this country.
"I will do whatever it takes to secure Britain’s borders."
But Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp hit back: “The fact is all these illegal immigrants need to be urgently deported.
"The only way to do this is to leave the ECHR [European Convention on Human Rights]. Then, all new illegal immigrants can be deported within a week of arriving.
"The Conservatives also plan to establish a Removals Force to deport 150,000 illegal immigrants already here every single year.
"But Labour is too weak to quit the ECHR – because they are a government run by human rights lawyers.”
Migrants living in asylum hotels have been spotted working for delivery firms, such as JustEat and Deliveroo.
And some have admitted organising illegal roles before they arrived in the UK.
The Home Office told the Daily Express that 693 suspected illegal immigrants were arrested during 1,737 raids in October.
Some 186 illegal workers have been detained “pending further enforcement action”, officials said.
Officials said this is a “significant” rise, with 3,140 raids carried out between June and September.
It was the second “phase” of Operation Machinize – a crackdown on cash-based businesses acting as fronts for criminal organisations.
The Home Office has launched a six-week consultation on plans to expand right-to-work checks to include gig economy employers.
Bosses who hire illegal workers face up to five years in jail.
Right-to-work checks only currently get carried out to verify whether someone is eligible to work in the UK if it is a traditional employer/employee relationship.
Ministers want to close this loophole, so the same checks apply to casual, temporary or subcontracted workers, and employers who fail to carry out checks could be jailed or hit with fines of £6,000 per illegal worker.
The Conservatives declared that those caught working illegally should have their asylum claims automatically rejected.
They should then face deportation to avoid Britain becoming even more of a “soft touch”.
Asylum seekers are banned from working during the first 12 months after lodging their claim, unless a decision is made sooner.
The Home Office in July struck a new agreement with food delivery companies Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats, to share the locations of asylum hotels.
The move is designed to combat the practice of delivery drivers sharing their accounts with asylum seekers so that they can work illegally.
Deliveroo and JustEat delivery accounts are being offered to migrants on dedicated social media pages.
Some are paying as little as £40 for log-ins.
The food delivery firms have been ramping up identity and right-to-work checks, which led to thousands of workers being taken off the platforms, the Home Office said.
On Thursday night, Labour said almost 50,000 failed asylum seekers, foreign criminals and other immigration offenders have been removed or deported since the party came into power.
The Home Office said there has been a 23% increase in total removals or deportations compared to the previous 16-month period before July 2024, including 9,714 enforced removals.
Another 5,430 foreign criminals have been removed since November 2024. This is a 24% and 12% increase respectively, when compared to the previous 12-month period.
Of the total removals since November 1 last year, 11,231 were linked to asylum cases. This is an increase of 27%.
Ms Mahmood added: “Nearly 50,000 illegal migrants have been removed or deported since the election.
“We've ramped up enforcement, deported foreign criminals from our streets, and saved taxpayers millions.
“I pledge today to scale up the removal and deportations of illegal migrants and do whatever it takes to secure our borders.”
