Irregular Migration | United Kingdom | bpb.de

In 2005 the issue of irregular migrants made headlines when David Roberts, Head of Removals at the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) provoked an uproar by admitting that he did not have the “faintest idea” how many immigrants were illegally living in the UK. The Home Office quickly released an estimate of approximately 500,000. Other organizations cited a higher figure, ranging upwards of 800,000.

In 2007, Home Secretary John Reid tabled proposals designed to make life difficult for those illegally in the country, and he reiterated the government’s commitment to “throwing out” as many as possible. The punitive rhetoric and targeting of “foreigners” who “steal our benefits” provoked alternative proposals.

Growing civil society resistance to these measures included calls for regularization of some 500,000 illegal residents and anti-deportation activism supported by the National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns (NCADC). In 2007, 65 Labour party backbenchers led by Jon Cruddas signed a motion lending their support to the Strangers into Citizens regularization proposal put forward by a coalition of faith-based and community organizations. The Labour government rejected the proposal and expanded deportation instead. The UK Borders Act, 2007 introduced the concept of automatic deportation, which meant that the Home Secretary is under an obligation to deport non-EU citizens convicted of a crime with a sentence of twelve months or more or if they commit another serious crime (as specified by the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act of 2002). In 2013 a total of 45,712 persons were deported (13,051 enforced removals, 32,661 voluntary departures).

This text is part of the Interner Link: country profile United Kingdom.