Disrupting Criminal Gangs Behind People Smuggling
Illegal migration causes significant harm and endangers the lives of those undertaking dangerous journeys. In the summer of 2020, a record number of 8,500 people crossed the English Channel in small boats. 10 This is a dangerous crossing which the Government aims to make unviable.
	The Government is already working with partners in Europe, especially France and Belgium, to prevent migrants attempting to make their way illegally to the United Kingdom. This includes work funded through overseas development aid and activities of law enforcement and intelligence partners including the National Crime Agency (NCA). The Government intends to continue working with these partners and all operational partners and agencies to tackle the upstream causes of illegal immigration.
	This Act will introduce tougher criminal offences for those attempting to enter the United Kingdom illegally or found to be facilitating illegal immigration.
	Border Force powers and capabilities to deal with maritime threats will be expanded through this Act. Border Force will be given strengthened powers to divert vessels they suspect are being used to facilitate illegal entry to the United Kingdom out of United Kingdom territorial seas and enable enforcement action to take place outside UK waters. The Act will set out how and where asylum claims must be made, expressly excluding claims from being made at sea.
	A significant number of people entering the United Kingdom illegally arrive through concealment in vehicles travelling into the United Kingdom by tourist and freight transport routes. This Act gives Border Force Officers the power to search unaccompanied containers which have been removed from the ship or aircraft for the purpose of satisfying themselves whether there are any people they want to examine.
	The Act will strengthen powers to allow migrants who arrive on small boats to be treated in line with arrivals at port. This section will allow Officers to examine those who have crossed the Channel via small boat at the location they are being processed for immigration purposes, away from port and border areas or location of entry. This will ensure that Counter-Terrorism Police are able to identify and examine individuals for the purpose of determining involvement in terrorist activity under the same power as if those individuals had passed through conventional border controls.
	This Act will introduce a new civil penalty regime alongside the existing Clandestine Entrant Civil Penalty scheme. Under the current scheme, vehicles coming into the United Kingdom must be secured in order to stop clandestine entrants. Where a clandestine entrant is found on board a vehicle on arrival in the United Kingdom and the responsible person has failed to operate a system that prevented their entry, a civil penalty may be imposed. The additional regime will firstly create a new civil offence, whereby a civil penalty may be imposed if there has been a failure to adequately secure a commercial goods vehicle and to take the actions specified in regulations in relation to the securing of the vehicle against unauthorised access, regardless of whether a clandestine entrant is found within it. These actions will include a requirement to check the goods vehicle on an ongoing basis for signs of possible clandestine entry, to report any unauthorised access and to keep records that confirm the actions specified in regulations have been taken. The Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 will be amended to remove section 33 and the Prevention of Clandestine Entrant: Code of Practice.
	Instead, the Secretary of State will specify in regulations the actions to be taken to secure the vehicle against unauthorised access. Secondly, the Act will also amend the regime so that liability to a fine will arise in all cases where a clandestine entrant is found on board a vehicle, save where there is evidence of duress. While the Secretary of State will have discretion to reduce the level of fine charged, the steps taken to secure the vehicle would no longer be relevant to liability to a fine. The regime is also amended so that train operators must comply with regulations made under section 34(3B). The regulations will specify the actions that a rail operator must have taken to secure a rail freight wagon against unauthorised access, in order to raise a defence, where it would be unsafe to stop the train on discovering a clandestine in a rail freight wagon.
	A deportation order requires the subject to leave the United Kingdom and prohibits the subject from entering the United Kingdom. It invalidates any leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom given to the subject before the order was made or while it is in force. The majority of those who receive deportation orders are Foreign National Offenders.
	The current maximum sentence for entering in breach of a deportation order under section 24 of the Immigration Act 1971 is 6 months imprisonment which does not reflect the seriousness of this offence.
	Increasing the maximum sentence from six months to five years’ imprisonment will disrupt those who are subject to a deportation order who are also involved in organised criminal networks, including those involved in organised immigration crime.
	Broadly, non-visa nationals visiting the United Kingdom for up to 6 months currently arrive at the United Kingdom border with limited prior checks by the Home Office. This presents a gap in border control and the ability to count people in and out of the United Kingdom.
	The introduction of an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) Scheme will assist with the ongoing digitization of the United Kingdom’s border. This will mean, in the same way as for countries like the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, before a person travels to the United Kingdom for a visit, they will need to apply for permission where aspects of any criminality must be provided through self-declaration. The Carrier Liability Scheme will be extended to incentivise carriers to check permission to travel before they bring an individual to the United Kingdom.