A record number of immigrants working illegally have been arrested in the last year, with more than 1,000 kicked out of the country. New Home Office figures reveal more than 8,000 migrants working as delivery drivers, car wash workers and nail technicians have been stopped by police in 12 months.
The number of arrests soared by 64% under a major sting dubbed Operation Sterling which saw police make 21,858 visits from September 2024. This has jumped 38% from 15,894 in the previous 12-month period, and a huge increase of 56% on 13,990 visits that were carried out in the same period up to September 2012.
A previous peak of 20,989 was hit in the year to September 2015. Enforcement visits from officers can be to businesses or home addresses to check on someone’s status, or on illegal working or other immigration crimes. Delivery firms Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats have ramped up real-identity and right-to-work checks to tackle concerns of illegal working through their platforms.
The crackdown by food order firms followed an investigation by the Daily Express which found men staying at an asylum hotel in central London working illegally delivering takeaways.
It comes as further figures show visits for illegal working totalled 11,052 up to September, a rise of 51% on the previous 12 months when 7,343 were carried out.
The drive comes as ministers are seeking to crack down on illegal working in the UK, as part of efforts to deter those coming to the country illegally.
Immigration enforcement was handed £5 million to arrest, detain and remove migrants working illegally at sites such as takeaways, beauty salons and car washes.
Elsewhere, data shows there were 8,232 arrests of illegal workers in the year to September, up 63% on 5,043 in the previous 12 months.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: “Illegal working creates an incentive for people attempting to arrive in this country illegally. No more.
“Those found to be illegally working in beauty salons, car washes and as delivery drivers will be arrested, detained and removed from this country. I will do whatever it takes to secure Britain’s borders.”
The Government will launch a six-week consultation today (Wednesday) over plans to expand right-to-work checks to include more employers, including in the so-called gig economy.
Under existing laws, right-to-work checks to verify someone is eligible to work in the UK are needed only for companies with traditional employer to employee contracts.
But ministers want to close a “loophole” for casual, temporary or subcontracted workers to also have to prove their status.
Under the plans, employers who fail to carry out checks could face up to five years in prison or fines of £60,000 for each illegal worker they have employed.
The consultation will seek views from businesses on current recruitment procedures and aim to give them guidance for rolling out stronger right-to-work checks.