Nearly 4,000 illegal workers have been arrested across the UK since Labour took power in July, as Home Secretary Yvette Cooper ramps up immigration enforcement to “record levels”.
Immigration officers made 3,930 arrests during 5,424 raids between July 5 and January 31, marking a 38 per cent increase compared to the previous year.
Last month alone saw 828 visits resulting in 609 arrests – the highest January figures since records began in 2019. The crackdown has targeted workers in nail bars, car washes and restaurants, with many found working in squalid conditions for employers avoiding taxes.
Raids across London and the South East saw multiple arrests, including suspects detained at a car wash in Herne Hill and a beauty salon in Tonbridge, Kent. Six migrants were held at a grocery warehouse in south London last month.
Yvette Cooper has launched a crackdown
PA
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper
PA
Operations targeting restaurants and vape shops proved particularly successful, with ten immigration arrests made at vape shops in Cheshire and eleven detained at an Indian restaurant in Humberside. In Wales and the West of England, January arrests more than doubled year-on-year from 45 to 101.
Those arrested had entered the UK through various routes, including Channel crossings and visa overstays.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “The immigration rules must be respected and enforced. For far too long, employers have been able to take on and exploit illegal migrants and too many people have been able to arrive and work illegally with no enforcement action ever taken.”
More to follow…