illegal immigration - Central News Hub

Over 100 foreign nationals arrested in UK immigration sweep

The suspects were arrested for offences including illegal working and possession of false documentation, with sums of cash seized at some locations, reports Asian Lite News

In a major crackdown on illegal immigration, enforcement officers in the UK arrested 105 foreign nationals from over 20 countries who were found working illegally in the country.

The nationwide operation by the Home Office on Friday saw over 300 immigration officers on 159 enforcement visits in a day at commercial premises including restaurants, car washes, nail bars, barber shops and convenience stores.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak observes a Home Office Immigration Enforcement Office illegal immigration intelligence-led visit in north west London. (Picture by Simon Walker / No 10 Downing Street)

The suspects were arrested for offences including illegal working and possession of false documentation, with sums of cash seized at some locations, the UK Home Office said.

Of those arrested, over 40 were detained by the Home Office, pending their removal from the UK, with the remaining suspects being released on immigration bail.

It is also expected that a number of the arrests will result in voluntary departure from the UK.

Offenders of over 20 different nationalities were found to be working without the right to do so in the UK.

“Illegal working harms our communities, cheats honest workers out of employment and defrauds the public purse as no taxes are paid. As the Prime Minister has set out, we are committed to tackling the abuse of our laws and borders,” Home Secretary Suella Braverman said.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also attended an early morning visit in Brent, North London, to observe Immigration Enforcement officers at work as part of the day of action.

On Thursday I joined Immigration Enforcement officers clamping down on illegal working, sending a clear message that it's this country who should decide who comes here, not criminal gangs.

This work is key to delivering on my promise to tackle illegal migration & stop the boats. pic.twitter.com/Rj4rXSKH2s
— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) June 16, 2023

“We know the prospect of black-market employment is a significant attraction for migrants considering making dangerous and illegal journeys to the UK. Operations such as today send a clear message that we will not stand for this,” Braverman said.

The operation builds on the ongoing work by Immigration Enforcement officers to clamp down on illegal working which is a key part of the government’s approach to stopping the boats.

This work tackles illegal migration by breaking the business model of criminal gangs who use the offer of black market jobs as one way to draw people to the UK illegally.

In the first quarter of 2023, Immigration Enforcement teams delivered 1,303 enforcement visits — a 57 per cent increase on the same period last year — and since the Prime Minister set out his plan to stop the boats in December 2022, arrests have now doubled since the same period last year, a Home Office statement said.

Director of Enforcement, Compliance and Crime, Eddy Montgomery said it is vital to not only identify individuals in breach of immigration law but target the people smuggling networks behind this type of criminal activity.

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Indian family drowned near US-Canada border

Six of the bodies were discovered on Thursday during an air search, and two more bodies were found on Friday, reports Arul Louis

Members of an Indian family were among those who drowned while trying to illegally cross a river from Canada to the US, according to authorities.

The eight people, whose bodies were found in a marsh near the St Lawrence River in a Native Canadian reservation in Quebec, included persons “believed to be citizens of India” who “are believed to have been attempting illegal entry into the US from Canada”, Lee-Ann O’Brien, the deputy chief of the local police, said on Friday.

Six of the bodies were discovered on Thursday during an air search, she said.

The Akwesasne Mohawk Police Service (AMPS) later reported that two more bodies were found on Friday. One was of a woman believed to be an Indian citizen and the other was of an infant of Romanian descent with a Canadian passport, it said.

The identities of those whose bodies were found were not revealed.

O’Brien said at the videocast news conference that the AMPS was working with immigration and Homeland Security officials to confirm the identities of the dead and inform their relatives.

She said that the other family in the incident was believed to be from Romania.

A boat that was found near the bodies belonged to a Native Canadian, Casey Oakes, who is also missing, she said.

The area of the Akwesasne Mohawk Native Canadian reservation in Quebec abuts New York, which was the likely destination of those who tried to cross over.

Canada is providing a conduit for Indians trying to enter the US illegally.

Last April, six Indians were rescued from the St Regis River by US Border Patrol agents after US authorities were alerted by the AMPS that a boat was sinking close to the US border.

In January last year, a family of four Indians were found frozen to death in Manitoba near the US border along Minnesota state.

They were identified as Jagdish Baldevbhai Patel, 39, and Vaishaliben Jagdishkumar Patel, 37, and their children, Vihangi Jagdishkumar Patel, 11, and Dharmik Jagdishkumar Patel, 3, from Dingucha in Gujarat.

Before their bodies were found, US authorities caught seven Indians nearby on their side of the border.

Last August, seven people from Gujarat were detained by US authorities when they illegally entered the US from Quebec.

The illegal immigration by Indians to the US from Canada is the opposite of the recent trend of people illegally crossing over in the opposite direction because of more liberal asylum regulations in Canada and better services available there.

More than 39,000 people, many who had come to the US on the southern border with Mexico, crossed into Canada last year leading to an agreement between the two countries to stop the migration.

Under the deal reached last week by US President Joe Biden and Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, both countries agreed to turn back people illegally crossing the border.

Now Indians caught trying to enter the US from Canada will be sent back there.

The US-to-Canada migration was the result of a domino effect: People from Central America and elsewhere cross into the US; the states and cities on the border, both Republican and Democrat-controlled, because of the pressure from the influx send some of them by bus to New York, a liberal Democrat city that is a “sanctuary city” for illegal immigrants, and New York, facing similar pressures in providing for them, in turn, sent them Canada.

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