Policy background Enforcement
Immigration officers have various powers of entry, search and seizure for the purpose of removal or deportation. Immigration officers also seek to disrupt illegal immigration by enforcing the illegal working civil penalty scheme in the 2006 Act and the right to rent scheme in the 2014 Act. The Act provides immigration officers with additional search and seizure powers in connection with curtailment decisions and the imposition of civil penalties under these schemes. Typically this may involve searching for evidence of illegal working such as pay slips or time sheets, and evidence of illegal renting such as tenancy agreements and letting paperwork.
	While using existing powers, immigration officers may find other evidence in relation to non-immigration offences. The Act will give officers powers to seize items where there are reasonable grounds to believe that they have been obtained in the commission of a criminal offence and where it is necessary to prevent them being concealed, damaged, or destroyed.
	The Government believes that it is important that the public sector works together to achieve effective immigration control. The Act provides immigration detainee custody officers, prison officers and prisoner custody officers with powers to search for and seize nationality documents for persons in their custody, expands an existing information gateway to enable public authorities to supply information for immigration purposes and places a duty on specified persons to supply nationality documents when directed to do so.
	The Conservative Party Manifesto commits the Government to satellite tracking for every foreign national offender subject to an outstanding deportation order or deportation proceedings. Section 36 of the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Act 2004 created the ability to impose electronic monitoring arrangements for certain migrants. Over 80% of foreign national offenders living in the community have been released on bail by the First-tier Tribunal ("the Tribunal") and while the Tribunal has the power to apply an electronic monitoring condition, the Secretary of State cannot require it as a condition of bail. The Act places a duty on the Secretary of State or the Tribunal to impose an electronic monitoring condition when the Tribunal grants bail, unless the Secretary of State considers it would be impractical or in breach of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) to do so.
	Illegal migrants, including foreign national offenders, who are awaiting deportation or removal, exist within a complex legal framework where there are six different legal statuses including immigration bail and temporary admission. In implementing the above change to electronic monitoring, the Act takes the opportunity to simplify the legislative framework so that just one status is available to illegal migrants who are not detained.