to be surprised that 19,000 deported since July

[Headingtowardsdivorce]

Almost 19,000 foreign criminals and failed asylum seekers have been deported since July as the Government steps up illegal working raids.

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/deportation-foreign-criminals-failed-asylum-seekers-uk-home-office-immigration-b1210218.html

I was surprised to read this. Particularly that the home office has videoed it. AIBU to be so surprised? I don't know why, I suppose I just was under the impression that Labour didn't deport people, that deportation was a more right wing thing. But now it seems that Labour have deported more the the Tories, which begs the question, why didn't the Tories do this?

Is 19000 a lot? It seems a lot to me.

900,000 people arrived just in 2023
It will take a lot more than 20,000 ppl leaving to feel the difference, even if 20k is a lot.

The Tories were all talk about illegal migration -- the Rwanda scheme, for example, was designed to be a populist policy appealing to voters, but they didn't put any effort into actually deporting people.

The left wing tends to be more sympathetic than the right wing towards asylum seekers fleeing for their lives, but illegal economic migration is different, and obviously they need to crack down on modern slavery etc too.

Personally I don't agree with filming deportations, very dehumanising.

Don't believe a word of it.
Bluster and bullshit.

19k is fuck all anyway.

36k arrived by small boat in 2023.
45k arrived in 2022
They're just the ones they know about.

The left wing tends to be more sympathetic than the right wing towards asylum seekers fleeing for their lives
Lol fleeing for their lives... From France.. and paying several 1000s to do so. France must be awful.. 🤣

Yes and leaving behind their wives, children, mothers, sisters in those countries...what brave men!! 🤔🙄

Labour clearly want the headline as numbers entering are going up and ‘smash the gangs’ is failing

it costs an absolute fortune to do this when voluntary returns is much cheaper

Labour are obviously reading the polls and trying to get Reform voters. That really won’t work

It will build focus on the issue and the cost which doesn’t actually help them

Basically more to Reform on this one

Labour are trying to out-reform reform.
They are also going to refuse citizenship for refugees.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/feb/11/uk-home-office-citizenship-refugees-dangerous-journey

But now it seems that Labour have deported more the the Tories, which begs the question, why didn't the Tories do this?

Because they were too busy chasing their tails on Rwanda.

Also, and I don't know if this is what has happened, but during the campaign Labour said they would hire more people so cases would be processed more quickly, leading to quicker decisions and therefore people being deported sooner. Tories ignored this suggestion and just shouted that Labour would cancel the Rwanda plan.

Are you already a Labour voter?

It's not who they're trying to get to believe the campaign

Crossings will still go up, more focus on the issue and Reform will benefit from Labour's attempts at generating headlines

What does it matter that you are ‘surprised’ @Headingtowardsdivorce?

Labour are deporting, numbers have gone up since the Tory, ‘big headlines no action’ ideas and now you are suspicious that the numbers are not correct.

Failed asylum seekers are being returned. A tougher stance with actual action is better than previous attempts at managing this.

What are your expert suggestions for managing this OP?
What have the other parties set out in their plans to manage this?

Reading the article in the op, it says around 1000 government employees have been redeployed to work on enforcement.

Tip of the iceberg, it's out of control.

There's a story this morning that a family from Gaza have been granted leave to remain under right to family life (the fathers brother lives here), they applied through the Ukraine scheme. I noticed the report was adamant that this was a one off and that the HO fought it.

We cannot carry on like this and I still feel they are just tinkering around the edges rather than being brave and taking drastic action to protect the country.

Agreed. I agree with the Green Party statement saying that this actually lends legitimacy to Reform.
I will also be unpopular with many labour MPs and supporters I would imagine.

Tip of the iceberg, it's out of control.

so where would you start?
not end up. But start. You can’t push anything through quickly, you can’t set anything up quickly.
meanwhile every day more boats are coming in. So you have to start with what you have whilst also setting up bigger plans.

Agreed. I agree with the Green Party statement saying that this actually lends legitimacy to Reform.

Yes it's a doozy in that regard

Similar is happening in Germany

It was actually a judge who overturned the decision. The home office fought it.
I’ve come to the conclusion that whatever labour does re immigration it’s never enough for certain naysayers with an agenda on here, otoh Nige, well he’ll sort it out straight away. At least they’re trying to do something unlike the last lot.

I know they fought it, I said that and yes they are doing something. In fairness the Tories did try Rwanda (I'm NOT saying this was a good scheme). However I do feel they are tinkering to say 'look we tried'. They are tinkering with everything for quick wins, except the economy where they seem to be focused on maximising trashing it.

Anyway this problem is only going to get bigger. As countries move to the right they will start putting measures in. We need to be bold and look at the EHRC, I know it's not popular however we can only work with what's available.

I'm afraid just because your brother lives here dies not mean you should be allowed to.

whatever labour does re immigration it’s never enough for certain naysayers with an agenda on here, otoh Nige, well he’ll sort it out straight away. At least they’re trying to do something unlike the last lot.

So your agenda is pushing Labour then, Labour do the same

If you're supporting this they know they have your vote in the bag already. It's not who they want to buy it

It's not that they're tougher on immigration or more efficient than the Tories - the big difference is the lack of court cases and protests stopping removal. Under the Tories there were Labour MPs like Dawn Butler kicking off about removing migrants, where are they now? I don't particularly have an opinion either way on immigration myself but there's a lot of political hypocrisy.

Because of the backlash everytime. They could not do anything without a huge outcry. Do you think they did not try?

You’re surprised because the right wing media managed to convince everyone that the Tories were ‘stopping the boats’ whereas they managed to quadruple immigration to almost a million per year post Brexit. Now it’s up to Labour to try to fix the issue, and they will get no credit and not enough time.

This is what the Tories did to the immigration system, never mind asylum seekers who are a tiny proportion of the overall numbers:

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/feb/12/uk-skilled-worker-visa-eligibility-list

‘DJ, dog walker and homeopath among roles on UK skilled worker visa list’!

Just what is needed - foreign dog walkers!

They're mostly overstayers aren't they? The plane video was albanians!
at a cost of 22k each.
insanity.

@1apenny2apenny

We cannot carry on like this and I still feel they are just tinkering around the edges rather than being brave and taking drastic action to protect the country.

So what would you do? What's your brave and drastic action solution?

Oh yes, that makes sense. I remember reading something ages ago about how there weren't enough people working on processing asylum seekers or finding illegal immigrants.

I also remember reading that the reason so many people come on the boats is because there was no official route to come by unless you were Ukrainian or something else that I can't remember now. Is that still true? Does anyone know whether that's being sorted out now too?

I think they are brave tbh. There's no way you'd get me in one of those boats! I'd definitely send my DH ahead first to get things ready for bringing me over 🤣

Thanks, I'll have a read if that when I have time (aka when I'm not at work!)