Tories plan new Trump-style deportation force to remove 150,000 people a year from UK
The plans would see as many as 150,000 people deported each year (Image: Getty)
The Conservatives will pledge to create a “Removals Force” based on Donald Trump’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the United States. The measure, part of their plans to end irregular migration, will see them pledge to remove up to 150,000 people a year from the UK.
The force would be given a range of sweeping powers boosted by funding of £1.6 billion, which would include the use of facial recognition “without warning”. Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has unveiled a seven-point plan to “secure Britain’s borders,” which includes a promise to remove small boat arrivals within a week and to refuse all claims made by those who arrive by unofficial methods. The “removals force” proposed by the Conservatives would be “very different” from the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agency, Dame Priti Patel has said.
The measures are part of the Conservative Party’s plans to combat irregular migration (Image: Getty)
In a 20-page policy document on its immigration plan, the Conservative Party said the new agency would be “modelled on the recent successful approach” of ICE.
But asked about criticism of Ice’s activity in the US, Dame Priti told a fringe event at the Conservative party conference: “America’s model is very different and what we would set up here under our party would be different as well, because our laws are different.
“Let’s just put it into the right kind of context. Our laws and the approach that we take, we have the right parameters and the boundaries when it comes to removals.”
She added: “The two are not comparable. Our system and our structures and our laws are different.”
Donald Trump has overseen the deportation of around 400,000 people since taking office for a second term, according to the White House.
In the US, ICE have deported around 40,000 people, the White House claims (Image: Getty)
ICE’s robust methods of detainment have come in for a mix of praise and criticism, with critics voicing concerns about due process and heavy-handedness.
The Tory leader told the Telegraph that she “wouldn’t be surprised” if Mr Trump “loved” her migration plan, but said she was more interested in the views of people in the UK.
Mrs Badenoch’s plan for a “removals force” would aim to remove 150,000 people who have had their asylum claims rejected, up from 9,800 in the most recent calendar year.
The 20-page policy document also sets out plans to establish return agreements by threatening to impose visa sanctions on countries that are not cooperative.
