Immigration officers at airports and harbours will be uniformed and gain stronger powers under government proposals to be announced on Friday. Immigration Minister Liam Byrne told the BBC the UK Borders Bill was part of a range of measures the government would announce over coming months to deter illegal immigration. He said it was part of “the most radical shake-up of the immigration service in its history”.
The Home Office’s Immigration and Nationality Directorate is to start working from April under the new title of the Border and Immigration Agency. Byrne said the agency’s job would be to “tackle immigration in the round.” “That means securing our borders more effectively, it means tackling human traffickers and smugglers who account for so much of illegal immigration. “It also means shutting down illegal working, which we know draws people here in the first place,” he said. |