Dozens of delivery riders to be deported in immigration crackdown

Those arrested included Chinese nationals working in a restaurant in Solihull, West Midlands, Bangladeshi and Indian riders in Newham, east London, and Indian delivery riders in Norwich, Norfolk. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood was present at an operation in Streatham, south London.

The drive comes as ministers crack down on illegal working in the UK, as part of efforts to deter those coming to the country illegally. Ms Mahmood set out a raft of reforms to the asylum system last month, aimed at making the UK less attractive for illegal migration and making it easier to deport people.

Border security minister Alex Norris said: “These results should send a clear message, if you are working illegally in this country, you will be arrested and removed. As well as delivering record levels of enforcement, we are tightening the law to clamp down on illegal working in the delivery sector to root out this criminality from our communities.

“This action is part of the most sweeping changes to illegal migration in modern times to reduce the incentives that draw illegal migrations here and scale up removals.”

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Home Office figures show there were 8,232 arrests of illegal workers in the year to September, up 63% on 5,043 in the previous 12 months. Ministers have also been working with firms Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats to address concerns of abuse in the sector and ramping up identity checks to tackle account-sharing.

The Home Office also agreed in July to share asylum hotel locations with food delivery companies, to tackle suspected hot spots of illegal working. The action also comes as the Government’s new Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act became law on Tuesday, which includes measures to close a “loophole” for casual, temporary or subcontracted workers to also have to prove their status.

Employers who fail to carry out checks could face up to five years in prison, fines of £60,000 for each illegal worker they have employed, and having their business closed.