Reform will face down any ‘progressive outrage’ over mass deportations, Yusuf says amid outcry over ‘sadistic’ plans

Asked whether the party was prepared for US-style standoffs, the party’s home affairs spokesman said reform would face “progressive anger” from protesters opposed to the party’s mass deportation plans.

Zia Yusuf joined Nigel Farage at a press conference in Dover to reveal his draconian new immigration policy. He denied that the policy’s Deportation Command plans were the same as those of Donald Trump’s ICE, but warned that “we will never retreat” in the face of unrest.

He suggested that violence like that seen on the streets of Minnesota, where ICE agents clashed with and killed protesters, would not occur because “policing is consensual” in the United Kingdom.

But when asked about sanctuary cities in the UK such as Cardiff and Sheffield, which protect asylum seekers from deportation, Mr Yusuf said he would be prepared to confront protesters and authorities there.

Answer to a question IndependentHe said: “If your question is, ‘Do we have the resolve to confront the growing anger at the radically different application of the law in this country?’ Then the answer is; “We will never hesitate.”

Under the reform government, the party would set up a unit to “monitor, detain and deport” people in the country illegally, aiming to reach 288,000 people each year.

He said: “So you know the idea that we’re going to have the same problems that will come into sharp focus internationally as a result of Trump’s Ice program – that’s not true, we wouldn’t expect the UK Deportation Command to be carrying weapons. That’s not going to be the case.”

“But I also want to make it clear that if you are in this country illegally, they will identify you, detain you, and deport you.”

He added: “If your question is: Will we face a situation like the one we saw in the British state of Minnesota as a result of our deportation programme? No.”

The plans were met with outrage, with charities warning they would tear families apart.

Labor Rights Center CEO Dr. Dora-Olivia Vicol criticized Reform’s deportation plans, adding that retroactively removing people from their settled status in the UK would be “insensitive” and would “actively harm our economy and public services”.

Speaking about Reform’s deportation proposals, he said: “This is a sadistic vision in which families and communities across the UK are torn apart, money is wasted and the government is turned against its own people.

“These are proposals designed only to grab headlines and stoke anger. They are cruel, economically self-defeating and offer no solutions to the real problems facing people in Britain, such as poverty and exploitative work.”

Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Max Wilkinson said Reform’s “Trump-inspired plans for an ICE-style force will only bring chaos and disorder to Britain’s streets, not the order and control our immigration system needs.”

Amnesty International UK also warned that the UK “does not need or want” a British version of ICE, and warned that such proposals to emulate the US “risk unleashing a system built on fear, aggressive raids and discrimination, where enforcement operates with broad powers and little accountability”.

In Dover on Monday, Mr Yusuf said the UK was being “invaded” by immigrants as he touted Reformation’s mass deportation program as the largest deportation program in UK history.

The party also said it would impose a “visa freeze” on Pakistan, Afghanistan and Syria if the countries refuse to take back migrants who do not have a legal right to remain in the UK.

Reform said he would expect more than 600,000 people to be deported during his first term in government.

Defending the choice of language, Mr Yusuf told a press conference in Dover: “I know many people in the organization gasped at the word.

“They may clutch their pearls in television studios, but the dictionary definition of invasion is an unwanted attack by a large number of people.

“Make no mistake, as home secretary I will end this occupation and indeed reverse it, because the patience of the British people is now exhausted.”

Mr Yusuf also said the rights of British citizens were being held “below the rights of criminals” due to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

The party has vowed to withdraw from the agreement.

Mr. Yusuf listed examples of judges preventing the deportation of illegal immigrants who have committed crimes.

“How many more people must die at the hands of those who should never be in our country?” he said.

“How many more victims’ families must be devastated in this way when their rights are subordinated to the rights of criminals?

“There is no answer. Vote for reform. We will leave the ECHR and put an end to this madness.”

Reacting to the speech, shadow home secretary Chris Phlip said Mr Yusuf had “nothing new to offer beyond copying and pasting Conservative plans”.