Illegal immigration crackdown: Over a THOUSAND raids have taken place since Sunak vowed to get tough

Immigration Enforcement officers have carried out more than eleven hundred raids on suspected immigration offenders since Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged to get far tougher on illegal migrants.

Since December 11, there have been 1,152 raids to identify those suspected of working illegally in the UK, marking a 10 per cent rise on enforcement activity over the previous five week period.

The increase in activity follows the establishment of the UK’s first cross-government taskforce on immigration enforcement.

Ministers claim it “will ensure every available power across government is utilised to support law enforcement activity to identify and reduce illegal migrants in the UK”.

In December, the Prime Minister announced plans to tackle illegal working and immigration, including hiring 200 new Immigration Enforcement staff and restarting data sharing with banks to ensure those here illegally do not have access to bank accounts.

In the five weeks since, 362 arrests have been made by Immigration officers and 92 illegal working penalties have also been issued, totalling 31.5 million.

Last Friday, GB News was given exclusive access to follow an enforcement team as they raided several businesses in south east London.

At a local skip hire firm, two European Union citizens from Romania were arrested on suspicion of working without a proper visa.

The move signalled a policy shift from the Home Office, after a grace period following Brexit.

The senior officer on the raids told GB News that his team had been issued with new guidance in the past week allowing for the arrest of EU nationals suspected of immigration offences.

Since December 11, a further 1,930 foreign nationals arrested by police have been referred to Immigration Enforcement teams for further investigation.

Over the same time period, 151 foreign criminals and immigration offenders have been deported on returns charter flights.

Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick said: “Illegal working causes untold harm to our communities, cheating honest workers of employment, putting vulnerable people at risk, and defrauding the public purse.

"Our Immigration Enforcement teams are working round the clock to bring those violating our laws to justice.

"It’s our priority to crack down on this crime and empower law enforcement to remove illegal migrants.”