Providing law enforcement with the tools to disrupt OIC is a key priority for this Act. The legislation introduces new enhanced powers to tackle, investigate and prosecute OIC, and provide additional deterrents and penalties for criminals involved in OIC. The interventions aim to strengthen the UK’s border security beyond OIC, with additional powers for law enforcement and the justice system to prevent other individuals and groups involved in serious and organised crime from harming the UK.
	The Act contains new measures aimed at disrupting the networks of criminals by targeting their operations and introducing a new offence relating to the handling of articles for use in OIC and a new offence relating to the research or planning of an OIC offence. These measures will target the activities of facilitators and OCGs who look to profit from OIC. Alongside this, new powers of search, seizure, retention and extraction will be introduced for, Immigration Officers, NCA Officers and/or a police constable where there are reasonable grounds to suspect that a person, who is in the relevant "cohort" of people has an electronic device that contains information or evidence relevant to facilitation offences under section 25 or 25A of the IA 1971. This seeks to enable law enforcement to obtain an enhanced intelligence picture on OCG activity and help to provide clear strategic direction on how to mitigate against illegal means of travel.
	Online platforms are exploited at scale to promote unlawful immigration services, such as small boat crossings and provision of fraudulent travel documents, allowing organised crime groups to generate profits at the expense of vulnerable and misinformed migrants. Through the new measures, the Government seeks to address the exploitation of social media by providing law enforcement with an additional tool to prosecute those who create or publish (or cause the creation of or publication of) material whose purpose is or effect will be to promote an unlawful immigration service. The exploitation of the online environment by organised crime groups for promoting their services is widely known and discussed within the public domain, including published academic research, such as teaching notes, blogs or other academic publications that academics routinely publish, and journalistic content. This type of discussion and material subsequently generated is clearly not of concern which is why the Government has sought to ensure that there are express defences in place for journalistic content and published academic research. Additionally, there are intermediary liability protections in place for online platforms, including social media platforms, to emphasise the focus is on those who are creating and publishing content promoting unlawful immigration services.
	As dangerous small boat crossings continue in the English Channel, the tragic loss of life continues to rise. The Government seeks to address the actions and behaviours of those who put others in serious danger. This legislation seeks to enable the prosecution of individuals who cause or place any other person at risk of death or serious injury whilst attempting to enter the UK unlawfully via a journey by water from France, Belgium or the Netherlands.
	Where a foreign national poses a threat to the public but cannot be removed from the UK because of our obligations under domestic and international law, they are granted permission to stay. Currently law enforcement does not have the ability to impose the same conditions which can be imposed on a person on immigration bail, irrespective of the threat posed by the person. Provisions in this Act strengthen the powers available to protect the public from migrants that pose a threat. Decisions to impose these conditions will be taken on a case-by-case basis and subject to an ECHR proportionality analysis. Curfews, inclusion zones and exclusion zones will only be imposed in cases where electronic monitoring is not sufficient to mitigate the threat posed by the person. The powers will only be used in cases involving conduct such as war crimes, crimes against humanity, extremism, serious crime or where the person poses a threat to national security or public safety.
Border Security Powers and Offences