Migrant crackdown as 60 illegal workers set to be deported from UK

The UK Home Office is set to deport some 60 migrants, following a police swoop targeting workers in the gig-economy. Immigration enforcement officers arrested 171 people in raids on business across the country, as the government cracks down on illegal workers.

Among those taken into custody were 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. Government ministers believe the clampdown will help deter migrants from coming to the UK to seek employment. A video clip of the raids released by the Home Office shows an arrested man being led by officers into the back of an immigration enforcement van, and another apprehended by his bike.

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Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood was also filmed observing police operations in Streatham, south London.

The number of illegal workers arrested in the UK has jumped by 63% in the first nine months of this year. In the year to September - 8, 232 were taken into custody, up from 5,043 in the previous 12 months.

The Home Secretary unveiled a series of reforms to the asylum system last month, in an attempt to deter migrants from coming to the UK.

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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.

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“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.”

Courts are also handing out stiff fines to companies found hiring illegal workers. In one of the latest cases, a car wash in County Durham was fined £80,000 for employing illegal staff.

Immigration enforcement workers found illegal employees when they turned up at The Express Hand Car Wash in Coxhoe.

The car wash is one of 14 North East businesses named on the Home Office list published last week, which details penalties issued between April and June.