Britain has carried out a series of dramatic mass deportation raids across the UK, in a move that appears to mirror tactics used by the US.
The Home Office last night issued a series of photos showing its new crackdown on immigrants, in a move to project a tougher stance on defending the UK’s borders.
Officers from Britain’s own ‘FBI’, the National Crime Agency, were seen bursting into buildings wearing body armour as they sought to detain migrants.
And in other photos, officials in hi-viz jackets are seen shepherding deportees onto private jets out of the UK.
The pictures appear to show an uncanny similarity to those released by Donald Trump’s administration, as the new US President seeks to purge America of illegal immigrants.
But Britain’s own tactics – perhaps designed to impress Mr Trump, showing a hardline approach to the issue – don’t appear to go as far as the US President’s controversial immigration assault, displaying subtle differences.
Similar photos from America show heavily-armoured officers from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) storming buildings wielding high-powered rifles.
And deportees aren’t booted from the States in commercial jets like Britain. instead, they are escorted by soldiers and flown out on military transport planes.
Left: UK officials from the National Crime Agency carry out a raid of a property. Right, federal agents in America storm a property carrying high-powered assault rifles and wearing bulletproof armour
Left: UK immigration officials are seen detaining person while wearing stab vests following a raid on a business. In America, a similar raid sees police officers armed with polices and wearing bulletproof vests being used
Left: UK officials in hi-viz jackets shepherd deportees into a private jet. While in America, people are escorted onto military transport jets by soldiers
Pictured are some 80 migrants from Guatemala being deported to their country with a United States military plane at the Fort Bliss facility in El Paso, Texas on January 30, 2025
In raids on businesses housing illegal immigrants, unarmed British officials wearing stab vests are seen arresting individuals, before detaining.
However, in similar raids to expose criminals from businesses in the US, American police are seen carrying pistols and wearing bullet-proof body armour.
in Britain, officials said they had carried out 5,074 enforced returns between July 5, 2024 and January 31, 2025 – an increase of nearly a quarter on the previous year. They said a total of 2,925 foreign national offenders have been removed.
Meanwhile American, ICE officials aim to make a daily quota of 1,200-1,400 arrests a day, with hundreds of deportations every day.
So far a total of 18,987 failed asylum seekers, foreign criminals and illegal migrants have been returned back from the UK to their home countries since the general election.
Downing Street said this represents the highest rate of returns seen in the UK since 2018 and include the four biggest returns charter flights in the UK’s history – carrying more than 850 people overall.
There have been 39 charter flights in total leaving for countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and South America.
The Home Office said this was the first time it had published images of its deportation flights. It came after ministers defended their decision to release footage of illegal migrants being arrested in dawn raids as ‘compassionate’ following criticism from left wingers.
The new administration of President Trump has regularly published photographs of migrants being deported in handcuffs.
The Home Office released images of migrants being deported from the UK on a charter flight
The Government is attempting to project a tough stance on immigration in response to the threat from Reform UK
USA: The new administration of President Trump has regularly published photographs of migrants being deported in handcuffs
Trump repeatedly promised voters his administration would enact the largest deportation effort in U.S. history
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: ‘To rebuild public confidence in the immigration system, we need to show the rules are respected and enforced.
‘That’s why, as part of the Government’s Plan for Change, we have put significant additional resource into immigration enforcement and returns, so those who have no right to be here, particularly those who have committed crimes in our country, are removed as swiftly as possible.
‘I want to pay tribute to all the Immigration Enforcement staff and other officials in the Home Office who strive tirelessly every day to make our returns system work firmly, fairly and swiftly.’
It comes hours after the Home Office boasted of a rise in the number of illegal migrants being arrested.
Some 3,930 arrests have been made across 5,424 visits by immigration enforcement officers since July 5 when Labour took power to January 31, in what is understood to be a 38 per cent increase compared to the previous 12-month period.
Home Office officials said 609 arrests of illegal workers were made last month, the highest since figures began being collected in 2019.
There were also 828 raids on workplaces suspected of illegally employing foreign staff in January, up from 556 in the same month last year and from 171 in January 2019.
The Government has begun releasing details of the raids in the wake of polls showing Labour would lose more seats to the Reform party than the Conservatives would.
The Red Wall group of around 40 Labour MPs has called on its ministers to send a stronger message on immigration to head off the electoral threat.
Ministers have defended releasing images of migrants being arrested as a ‘compassionate’ decision following criticism from left wingers
The Home Office said it had carried out 5,074 enforced returns between July 5, 2024 and January 31, 2025
Most returns are voluntary, with people who do not have permission to stay in Britain able to receive payments of up to £3,000 to help resettle abroad
Officials say this week’s figures represent the highest rate of returns seen in the UK since 2018
They said the figures include the four biggest returns charter flights in the UK’s history – carrying more than 850 people in total
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Officers from the Home Office’s Immigration Enforcement agency have uncovered migrants who arrived illegally across the Channel also working illegally, it was revealed.
Illegal workers can end up living in ‘squalid’ conditions and working ‘inhumane hours’ for ‘little or no pay’, Home Office sources said.
Gangs involved in people trafficking have been driving illegal migration by giving migrants ‘false promises’ about their ability to work here, they added.
Illegal workers can end up living in ‘squalid’ conditions and working ‘inhumane hours’ for ‘little or no pay’, Home Office sources said. Gangs involved in people trafficking have been driving illegal migration by giving migrants ‘false promises’ about their ability to work here, they added.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: ‘The immigration rules must be respected and enforced.
‘For far too long, employers have been able to take on and exploit illegal migrants and too many people have been able to arrive and work illegally with no enforcement action ever taken.
‘Not only does this create a dangerous draw for people to risk their lives by crossing the Channel in a small boat, but it results in the abuse of vulnerable people, the immigration system and our economy.
‘That’s why, as part of our Plan for Change, we are boosting enforcement to record levels alongside tough new legislation to smash the criminal gangs.’
Footage released shows immigration enforcement officers arresting people at a car wash in August
A raid on vape shops in Cheshire led to ten immigration arrests and two criminal arrests for counterfeit documents, a Home Office spokesman said.
An enforcement visit to an Indian restaurant in Humberside led to seven arrests and four detentions. And one to a grocery warehouse in south London resulted in six arrests and four people being detained.
In Wales and the West of England, the number of arrests made in January more than doubled compared with a year earlier, from 45 to 101.
Home Office minister Dame Angela Eagle yesterday defended the Government’s decision to publish footage of immigration raids.
‘It’s important that we show what we are doing and it’s important that we send messages to people who may have been sold lies about what will await them in the UK if they get themselves smuggled in,’ she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
‘They are more likely to be living in squalid conditions, being exploited by vicious gangs.
‘It’s important that we get those realities across and it’s important that that’s done in imagery as well as words.’
The video was released as part of the Home Office’s attempts to project a tough stance on immigration enforcement
Asked whether the policy is in line with Sir Keir Starmer’s previous pledge to create an immigration system ‘based on compassion and dignity’, Dame Angela added: ‘I don’t believe for one minute that enforcing the law and ensuring that people who break the law face the consequences of doing that, up to and including deportation, arrest, is not compassionate.
‘We have to have a system where the rules are respected and enforced.’
A Government social media campaign discouraging people from making the journey to the UK was launched in Vietnam in December and Albania in January.
