Fewer than one in six ‘hostile environment’ raids led to deportations

21 February 2021: Guardian: 190 ‘intelligence-led’ raids on cares homes results in 37 care workers removed from UK

Fewer than one in six of more than 44,000 “intelligence-led” Home Office immigration enforcement raids on people’s homes since the introduction of the “hostile environment” policy have resulted in deportations, according to data obtained by the Guardian.

According to a freedom of information (FoI) response provided to the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants by the Home Office, between 2015 and 2019 there were 44,225 raids on private homes resulting in just 7,578 people deported. There were also 190 raids carried out on care homes resulting in just 37 care workers removed from the UK.

[…] Susan Cueva, trustee at Kanlungan Filipino Consortium, which works with migrants including those working in care homes said: “We know that care homes lack staff. The Home Office should stop raiding care homes. It is counter-productive. The solution is to regularise the immigration status of these workers who are carers. That’s the most practical way to deal with this situation.”

She said that if any undocumented workers were working in care homes they were more likely to be indirectly employed, but to come through other routes. This could be one reason why Home Office raids on care homes appear to have such a low success rate.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/feb/21/fewer-than-one-in-six-hostile-environment-raids-led-to-deportations