… ‘Toughest Immigration Reforms’ in UK History,
The leader of the UK Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, has announced what she described as “the toughest immigration reforms in Britain’s history,” unveiling a sweeping new Radical Borders Plan aimed at detaining and deporting 150,000 illegal migrants each year.
In a video message posted on her X handle on Sunday, Badenoch said the plan would establish a Removals Force — a new enforcement agency modelled after the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) — to overhaul the UK’s border security operations.
“My message is clear: if you’re here illegally, you will be detained and deported,” she declared.
Badenoch, who has taken a hardline stance on immigration, accused both Labour and previous Conservative governments of failing to control illegal migration, citing record numbers of small boat crossings and billions of pounds spent on asylum accommodations.
“Labour promised to smash the gangs. Instead, in just a year, they delivered record small boat crossings, over 50,000 illegal arrivals, 32,000 people in asylum hotels, billions wasted. It’s pure weakness. Britain needs a serious, credible plan and the backbone to deliver it,” she said.
Under the proposed reforms, asylum claims from illegal entrants would be banned, the Human Rights Act repealed, and the UK would withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
Badenoch further explained that all illegal arrivals would be deported within a week, while visa sanctions would be imposed on countries that refuse to accept deported nationals. The new enforcement agency would also “shut down the asylum hotel racket,” she said, saving taxpayers billions and restoring public trust in Britain’s borders.
“Only the Conservatives have a serious, credible plan to deliver stronger borders. If you come here illegally, you will be deported,” she added.
However, the policy has already sparked controversy. During an appearance on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Badenoch dismissed repeated questions about where deported migrants would be sent.
“I’m tired of all of these irrelevant questions about where they should go. They will go back to where they should be or another country, but they should not be here,” she said, adding, “They will go back to where they came from.”
According to Sky News, the proposed Removals Force will replace the current Home Office Immigration Enforcement unit and will be empowered to use facial recognition technology without prior warning to identify and remove undocumented migrants.
If implemented, Badenoch’s Radical Borders Plan would represent one of the most extensive overhauls of Britain’s immigration policy in decades — a move that is expected to intensify the ongoing political debate over border control, asylum rights, and human rights protections.