Four in five immigration raids in Yorkshire last year ended with no on being - something a migration expert says is due to "unverifiable" public tip-offs.
The Home Office carried out 253 "enforcement visits" across the county last year, detaining 53 people according to data obtained under the Freedom of Information request.
The most raids took place in Leeds, where officers made 74 visits and detained 11 people.
Meanwhile 54 raids were carried out in Bradford with 14 people detained, while in Sheffield the Home Office undertook 40 visits, detaining three.
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Dr Peter Walsh, of the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, said the low number of detainments compared to the number of raids is due to the Home Office's reliance on "unverifiable" public tip-offs.
"It’s based on a system of tip-offs. The Home Office receives about 50,000 tip-offs a year, usually telephone calls from ordinary citizens about illegal working," he said.
"About 10 per cent of those are investigated. The vast majority are carried out on takeaways and restaurants.
"The quality of the tip-offs are untestable and unverifiable. Many people who are detained are never deported.
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"[These numbers are] entirely in keeping with Home Office policy as I understand it."
Of the 253 raids carried out in Yorkshire last year, 90 took place in commercial premises according to the Home Office figures.
"This preference for commercial sites stems almost entirely from the system of tip-offs," Dr Walsh said.
A Home Office spokeswoman said: “We make absolutely no apologies for removing those who have no right to remain in the UK.
“The Government is bringing forward a New Plan for Immigration that is fair but firm, which will stop the abuse of the system and expedite the removal of those who have no right to be here.”
Business can face fines of up to £20,000 per worker if they cannot prove the correct Right to Work checks have been carried out.
Immigration raids and detainments by area in Yorkshire in 2020
- Barnsley: 11 raids, one detainment
- Bradford: 51 raids, 14 detainments
- Doncaster: 13 raids, four detainments
- Kirklees: 31 raids, 12 detainments
- Leeds: 74 raids, 11 detainments
- North Yorkshire: No raids or detainments
- Rotherham: 19 raids, four detainments
- Sheffield: 40 raids, three detainments
- Wakefield: 14 raids, four detainments
