Ministers blasted after illegal worker arrests in the UK fall by half in two years despite promises from the Home Office
Figures show the Government is failing to get a grip on the crisis and its 'response to illegal immigration has fallen woefully short'
GOVERNMENT ministers have been blasted after it emerged the number of illegal workers arrested in Britain has plummeted in the last two years.
And the figures show that of these just 27% got deported in the last financial year – just 1,295 of those caught.
This is despite promises from the Home Office to tackle the problem of foreigners working illegally in the UK.
In 2013-14, immigration raids saw 8,143 illegal immigrants arrested.
But by 2015-16 this had dropped by 41% to 4,814.
The figures for the number of illegal immigrants deported are even more startling.
During 2013-14, 3,400 were sent home by the Home Office (about 42% of those arrested) but in the last financial year this had slumped to 1,295 (27% of those arrested).
These statistics, uncovered by requests under Freedom of Information legislation, come despite there being an estimated 1.1million immigrants living here illegally.
Alp Mehmet of Migration Watch UK, a think tank which campaigns for tighter borders, told Daily Mail: “These figures simply show that the response to illegal immigration has fallen woefully short.
“While the government’s latest legislation has led to welcome new measures to tackle the problem, it will be just as important for those enforcing the immigration rules to have the resources they need to do the job.”
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The Government is desperately trying to get a grip on the migrant crisis and sending a message to asylum seekers in Calais that they should not come to the UK.
It has beefed up punishments for illegal immigrants caught working in a bid to stop people coming here.
Offenders now face six months in prison or a massive fine, while bosses can be fined £20,000 per illegal worker.
They are also meant to be deported but ministers have admitted it is difficult because many have “no place to go”.
The Home Office said: “Illegal working cheats the taxpayer, undercuts honest employers and means legitimate job seekers are denied employment opportunities.
“That is why we have legislated to make it harder than ever to work here illegally and introduced measures which allow us to remove people with no right to be here more quickly.
“We carry out regular operations to tackle abuse of the system and are determined to take action against employers who flout the law by using illegal labour.
“However, following arrest, there may be legitimate reasons why individuals are allowed to stay in the UK.”
