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Crackdown on illegal working in UK leads to surge in arrests

Becky Mortonpolitical reporter

Home Office Two immigration officers escort a man to a market at Kempton Park racecourse in Surrey on December 11.Home Office

The Home Office said 11 people were arrested during a raid on a market at Kempton Park racecourse in Surrey in December.

The government has said its crackdown on immigrants working illegally in the UK has led to a rise in arrests.

The Home Office said the number of immigration raids on businesses such as manicurists, car washes, barbers and takeaways had increased by 77 per cent since the Labor Party came to power, while there had been an 83 per cent increase in arrests.

Opposition parties have warned that opportunities to work illegally in the UK are a pull factor for migrants, encouraging people to cross the Channel in small boats.

In 2025, more than 41,000 people made this dangerous journey; This number is the highest since 2022 and almost 5,000 more than the previous year.

Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: “Illegal work is on the rise as Labor turns Britain into a soft touch.”

He added: “As long as people arriving illegally can work, earn and stay, smugglers have a sales pitch, a prize they dangle in front of those crossing the Channel.”

The number of people arrested during immigration raids on businesses has been rising steadily for some time and was rising before Labor took office.

According to the Home Office, between July 2024 and the end of December 2025, more than 17,400 businesses were raided by immigration enforcement teams; This represents a 77% increase over the previous 18 months.

Those raids led to more than 12,300 arrests, representing an 83 percent increase, and more than 1,700 of those people were deported, he said.

The government said arrests by immigration enforcement teams had increased in every part of the UK, with the highest number of arrests in London, the West Midlands and south-west England.

More than 2,100 arrests were made in London last year; This is a 47% increase compared to 2024.

Meanwhile, there were more than 1,100 arrests in both the West Midlands and south-west England, up 76% and 91% respectively.

In Northern Ireland, 187 raids led to 234 arrests, an increase of 76% and 169% respectively.

Businesses raided included a warehouse in Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex, on 25 November; While 13 people were arrested here, 11 Brazilian and Romanian citizens were detained to be removed from the United Kingdom.

Other examples included the arrest of 30 Indian and Albanian men in a raid on a construction site in Swindon on 16 December, almost all of whom were detained for removal.

Meanwhile, 11 people were arrested in a raid on a market at Kempton Park racecourse in Surrey on 11 December.

Home Affairs Minister Shabana Mahmood said: “There is no place for illegal work in our societies.

“That’s why we’ve increased enforcement activity to the highest level in British history, so illegal immigrants in the underground economy have nowhere to hide.

“I will stop at nothing to restore order and control at our borders.”

The increase in raids follows an extra £5m of funding for the Immigration Service last year.

The government also plans to introduce digital IDIn a bid to make it harder for immigrants to work illegally, it will be mandatory to prove one’s right to work by 2029.

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