Leader of the UK Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, has announced what she called the toughest reforms Britain has ever seen in immigration policy, unveiling a sweeping border strategy designed to detain and deport 150,000 illegal migrants every year.
In a video message posted on her 𝕏 handle on Sunday, Badenoch said the new Radical Borders Plan would create a Removals Force modelled after the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to strengthen Britain’s border enforcement system.
“My message is clear: if you’re here illegally, you will be detained and deported,” Badenoch declared in the caption accompanying her announcement video.
Positioning herself as a hardliner on immigration, Badenoch sharply criticised both Conservative and Labour governments for what she described as years of failure to tackle illegal migration effectively.
“Today, I’m launching our Radical Borders Plan, the toughest reforms Britain has ever seen to border laws and operations.
“Successive governments have failed on immigration. 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, and billions wasted. It’s pure weakness. Britain needs a serious, credible plan and the backbone to deliver it,” she added.
Key Provisions of the Plan
According to Badenoch, the Radical Borders Plan would ban asylum claims from illegal entrants, repeal the Human Rights Act, and withdraw the UK from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), moves that would represent a seismic shift in Britain’s immigration framework.
She said all illegal arrivals would be deported within seven days, with legal barriers to mass deportations removed.
Under the new policy, countries refusing to repatriate their citizens could face visa sanctions, while the new Removals Force would “shut down the asylum hotel racket,” saving taxpayers billions of pounds and restoring public trust in the UK’s borders.
“Only the Conservatives have a serious, credible plan to deliver stronger borders. If you come here illegally, you will be deported,” Badenoch said emphatically.
Reports by Sky News indicate that the new Removals Force will replace the existing Home Office Immigration Enforcement unit.
It will be granted sweeping powers, including the use of facial recognition technology without prior warning, to identify and remove undocumented migrants.
If implemented, the plan would mark one of the most radical overhauls of UK immigration policy in decades, setting the stage for fierce political and legal debates over border control and human rights.
It was reports that Badenoch’s announcement quickly drew backlash after her tense exchange on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, where she dismissed questions about where deported migrants would be sent.
“I’m tired of all of these irrelevant questions about where they should go,” she said.
“They will go back to where they should be or another country, but they should not be here.”
When pressed further, she replied curtly: “They will go back to where they came from.”
Her remarks sparked criticism from human rights advocates and opposition figures, who accused her of oversimplifying complex asylum issues and disregarding international law.
Despite the backlash, Badenoch doubled down on her stance, arguing that firm action was the only way to restore credibility to Britain’s immigration system.
“This plan will end the chaos, remove incentives for illegal entry, and ensure that our borders are respected again,” she said.
She added that the new policy would send a “clear signal to the world” that Britain was serious about law enforcement and border sovereignty.
While right-leaning members of the Conservative Party hailed it as “decisive and long overdue”, opposition figures and civil rights groups branded it “inhumane and legally reckless.”
It was reports that if approved, the plan would require Parliament to revoke existing human rights protections and rewrite sections of immigration law, a move that could face legal challenges domestically and in European courts.
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