London, 11 February 2025- In a move similar of US President Donald Trump’s harsh immigration crackdown, the United Kingdom’s Labour government has initiated massive raids on illegal immigrants. The raid, dubbed a “UK-wide blitz,” has included Indian restaurants, nail salons, convenience stores, and car washes that use migrant workers.
With British Home Secretary Yvette Cooper personally monitoring, the Home Office claimed a record-breaking January, as they arrived on 828 sites, a 48 percent increase over the previous January, with arrests jumping to 609, a 73 percent increase over last year.
Ms Cooper’s Office stated that, while its teams respond to illegal working intelligence in all sectors, a major part of last month’s action occurred in restaurants, takeaways, and cafes, as well as the food, drink, and tobacco industries. A visit to one Indian eatery in Humberside, northern England, resulted in seven arrests and four detentions, the report stated.
“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,” said Ms Cooper.
“Not only does this create a dangerous draw for people to risk their lives by crossing the Channel in a small boat, but it results in the abuse of vulnerable people, the immigration system, and our economy,” she added.
With Reform UK surging in the polls, Prime Minister Keir Starmer is under pressure to demonstrate his government’s stern stance on illegal immigration. It is employing tailored charter flights to transport “immigration offenders” to places around the world, including four of the largest migrant return flights in UK history, which carried over 800 individuals.
In a show-not-tell campaign, the Starmer administration is using Trump-style TV footage of these deportation flight processes, showing men to be deported being taken off a bus and up the stairway of a charter jet. Those deported on these aircraft are believed to include criminals convicted of narcotics offenses, theft, rape, and murder.
The government has also released a video showing the deportation of migrants for the first time, as it marks the removal of nearly 19,000 foreign criminals and illegal migrants since Labour took office. In the footage, a man’s hands were shackled as he was escorted by numerous Border Force staff.
“We’re also working upstream to deter people from entering the UK illegally by launching a new international campaign to debunk people smugglers’ lies. Social media adverts went live in Vietnam in December and Albania in January, highlighting real stories from migrants who entered the UK illegally, only to face debt, exploitation, and a life far from what they were promised,” the Home Office said.
According to Home Office statistics, between July 5 last year and January 31 this year, unlawful working crackdowns and arrests increased by almost 38% when compared to the same period the previous year. During that period, 1,090 civil penalty warnings were issued, and employers might face a fine of up to GBP 60,000 per worker if proven culpable.
The raids come as the Labour Party government’s Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill returns to Parliament for its second reading this week. The new legislation aims to “smash the criminal gangs” that Prime Minister Keir Starmer-led administration says undermines border security.
The new Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill is designed to grant law enforcement additional powers to take earlier and more effective action against organized crime gangs, including seizing mobile phones from people who come to the UK illegally before the point of arrest.
