Reform UK Party Plans Deportation Agency and Deportation of Hundreds of Thousands of Migrants

The Reform UK party, led by Nigel Farage, has presented a radical package of immigration reforms that, if it came to power, would fundamentally change UK policy. A key element is the creation of a special deportation agency — UK Deportation Command — which would operate on the model of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Its task, as part of an operation called "Restoring Justice," would be to coordinate deportations on a mass scale. The party's new home affairs spokesman, Zia Yusuf, announced that the priority would be to detain 24,000 illegal migrants. The second pillar of the reform is the abolition of the status of indefinite leave to remain (ILR). It would be replaced by a renewable, five-year work visa and a special visa for spouses. This change means that hundreds of thousands of people who currently have a settled, permanent status could lose it and face the need to periodically renew their permission. The scale of the planned actions is unprecedented. According to the announcements, up to 288,000 people would be deported annually, which would require organizing five deportation flights every day. „„Establishing a UK Deportation Command would be our burning priority.”” — Zia Yusuf The party argues that this is necessary to restore control over borders and justice. The immigration debate has been a key topic in British politics for decades, especially after accession to the EU in 1973 and the opening of the labor market to new member states in 2004. The 2016 Brexit referendum was largely motivated by fears of uncontrolled immigration. The Reform UK party, descended from the UK Independence Party (UKIP), has for years built its platform on anti-immigration rhetoric.The Reform UK proposals also include controversial security measures. Plans include introducing a rule for the automatic search of the home of any person reported to the government's Prevent counter-radicalization program Prevent by three separate and corroborating authorities. Furthermore, the party announced a ban on converting churches into mosques and a radical expansion of police stop and search powers. These plans have met with sharp criticism from the opposition and groups defending migrants' rights. The Labour Party described them as irresponsible, and non-governmental organizations speak of a "direct attack on settled families" and actions that are "fundamentally un-British." Implementing such a radical program would require Reform UK to gain a majority in parliament, which currently seems unlikely, but the debate over these ideas alone will influence the tone of the national discussion on immigration.

Perspektywy mediów: Liberal media (The Guardian, Independent) present the plans as radical, dangerous, and attacking the fundamental rights of settled migrants and religious minorities. The Reform UK party and supporting conservative media present the proposals as a necessary reclamation of border control, law enforcement, and the realization of the will expressed in Brexit.