About 60 delivery riders are to be deported from the UK after they were found to be working in Britain illegally.
Large numbers of newly arrived migrants are working for takeaway companies – disregarding a ban on paid employment for asylum seekers.
The Home Office said targeted action of workers in the so-called gig-economy, across the country, led to 171 arrests last month, including 60 detained for removal from the UK.
Chinese nationals employed in a restaurant in Solihull, West Midlands, Bangladeshi and Indian riders in Newham, east London, and Indian delivery riders in Norwich, Norfolk, were among those detained.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is seen conducting an operation in Streatham, south London, and police are shown carrying an arrested man into the back of an immigration enforcement vehicle and arresting another man by his bike in the street in video footage made public by the Home Office.
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.
Last month, Ms Mahmood outlined several changes to the asylum system intended to make the UK less appealing to unlawful immigrants and facilitate deportations.
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.’
Home Office figures show there were 8,232 arrests of illegal workers in the year to September, up 63 per cent on 5,043 in the previous 12 months.
Ministers have also been working with firms Deliveroo, Just Eat, and Uber Eats to address concerns about abuse in the sector and to ramp 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 verify their status.
Employers who fail to carry out checks could face up to five years in jail, fines of £60,000 for each illegal worker they have employed, and having their business closed, although I’ll believe it when I see it!
There are thousands of these illegal workers in the UK, all riding about on L-plates and getting away with it, who probably haven’t even passed their driving test.
The judges, left-leaning solicitors and barristers will ensure that these migrants are not deported.
I wonder how many migrants who are working will be deported by the time of the next election, because they will be allowed never-ending appeals as they are asylum seekers, and that will likely cost the taxpayers millions on top of the normal costs of providing for them. Perhaps we could discourage companies employing illegals by making the companies themselves accountable by picking up the costs of their appeals.
However, the public also needs to be made accountable because if they were that concerned about migrants illegally working, they wouldn’t rush out to their nearest takeaway to buy food.
Lorry drivers face huge fines if they accidentally smuggle someone into the UK, yet takeaways can employ them with no penalty; how is that fair?
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 