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See other news storiesNew powers boost immigration controls
26 January 2007
UK Borders Bill will give immigration officers extra powers to fight illegal immigration.
A new bill published this week will help Immigration Officers deter, detect and deport illegal immigrants as they try to enter the country.
The bill is part of the ongoing reform of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate ordered by Home Secretary John Reid that will ultimately see the directorate spin off from the Home Office in April as a more independent agency, called the Border and Immigration Agency (BIA).
Immigration controls already improving
Significant progress has already been made in reforming the immigration and asylum systems, and improving UK border controls. Already:
- annual asylum applications are at their lowest level since 1993
- most individual decisions on immigration requests are made in eight weeks
- new airline liaison officers prevent tens of thousands who do not have the right to travel to the UK from heading here in the first place - 30,000 people were stopped before flying here in 2005 alone
In addition, Home Secretary John Reid's shake-up of the immigration system has already:
- doubled the enforcement budget by adding £100m
- set a timetable for bringing in new technology that will help officers do their jobs better and faster
- created a system for sharing immigration information with other nations
- set the stage for biometric IDs for non-European Economic Area foreign nationals living in Britain
New rules will make a real difference
But there's much more still to do, and the new bill will make a real difference in the work of Immigration Officers. The new powers provided by this bill will allow them to:
- arrest people-smugglers and traffickers even if their crimes are committed outside the UK
- detain people suspected of committing crimes at ports
- arrest those suspected of fraudulently acquiring asylum status, and investigate their crimes will powers of entry, search and seizure
- access data from Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to track down illegal immigrants
Foreign nationals must do their part
The bill also places more obligations on foreign nationals who are benefiting from the right to live in the UK by requiring them to apply for and carry a biometric immigration ID, which will help the government prevent fraud and illegal employment, and make it harder for immigrants to adopt multiple identities.
Immigrants who fail to acquire a biometric ID and keep it up to date could lose their right to live in the country, and face fines of up to £1000.
Under the legislation, foreign national prisoners held in the UK will face automatic deportation if they've committed serious offences - such as terrorism, drugs offences or crimes against children. They bill also deprives them of the right to appeal from within the UK in most circumstances.
Overhauling the system
Immigration Minister Liam Byrne said the new bill will help meet the Home Secretary's stated goal of overhauling the immigration system and making it ready and able to meet the 21st century demands it faces.
'In the last six months I've met hundreds of frontline staff, and these are the measures they say they need,' Mr Byrne said. 'They don't stand alone. They are part of a radical shake-up of immigration, which includes £100m extra for enforcement, new technology to count people in and out of the country, and new biometric ID cards for foreign nationals.'
He added, 'We estimate that a significant proportion of illegal immigration is in the hands of organised crime, and the measures announced today will help us disrupt those networks and ensure the UK becomes a more hostile environment for those abusing our laws.'
The UK Borders Bill will receive its second reading in the House of Commons on 5 February.
