Hundreds of migrants kicked out of UK after biggest illegal work crackdown on record

The Home Office said illegal working arrests have shot up by 63% year-on-year with over 1,050 migrants removed as Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood vowed to get tough

Hundreds of people have been kicked out of the UK after Home Office raids on takeaways, fast food drivers, beauty salons and car washes.

The Home Office says illegal working arrests skyrocketed by 63%, with over 1,050 migrants removed as part of the largest crackdown on records. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said this will put people off coming to the UK by small boat.

Ms Mahmood said: “Illegal working creates an incentive for people attempting to arrive in this country illegally. No more.

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“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.” New laws mean bosses who hire illegal workers could face up to five years behind bars.

New figures published by the Government show more than 8,000 migrants have been arrested after 11,000 raids by Immigration Enforcement from October last year to September 2025.

Alex Norris, minister of state for border security and asylum praised the numbers, but admitted the Government needed to go “much further”.

Asked on Times Radio about the raids, Mr Norris said: “We’re really pleased that these raids which represent the highest amount of immigration enforcement raids in our country’s history have led to arrests and have led to a thousand people being deported.”

Challenged on whether a 1.000 was a success when 8,000 were arrested, Mr Norris insisted it was an “excellent result”.

He continued: “We want to go further, we’re using the law to its fullest. We’ve taken as I say the highest amount on record but we need to go much much further.

“We intend to go much further, we’re literally passing legislation as we speak. Let’s understand what’s at stake here, people want to come to Britain because they think they can melt into the illegal economy.”

Mr Norris also claimed the Government was “pushing much harder” against legal challenges to deportation.

It comes after ministers committed £5million to Operation Sterling targeting unauthorised working. Arrests rose by 63% in a year and visits were up by 51%.

Right to work checks are being expanded to stop people slipping through the cracks. Bosses who fail to conduct these checks could be jailed, face fines of £60,000 per illegal worker and have their businesses closed.

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.

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.

It also comes as 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.