The 74-page Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill has arrived, along with a written statement from the Home Secretary. This article summarises the key points.
The Bill was introduced to the House of Commons and given its first reading on 30 January 2025 without any debate. The second reading and first opportunity for MP debate is scheduled to take place on 10 February 2025.
The Home Office press release states that the “landmark” legislation introduces counter terror-style powers to “identify, disrupt and smash people smuggling gangs”.
Measures introduced by the bill include:
- Border and Security Commander: The Bill establishes the role of BSC, a civil servant designated to oversee border security functions and set strategic priorities relating to border security. The role is not independent and will take direction from the Home Secretary.
- Seize and search powers for electronic devices: Authorised officers are granted powers to search, seize and retain devices without permission such as phones suspected to contain information related to immigration crime.
- Information sharing provisions: for sharing information and data between authorities.
- Detention and deportation: The Bill expands detention powers, allowing detention while the Secretary of State is considering whether or not to make a deportation order.
- New biometric powers: Intended for urgent evacuation scenarios, anyone authorised by the Home Secretary can take biometric details from those abroad being considered for relocation to the UK.
- Repeal of previous asylum legislation: Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Act 2024 repealed along with most - though not all - of the Illegal Migration Act 2023.
- New criminal offences:
- Supplying or handling almost any item which the person knows or suspects will be used to facilitate illegal travel to the UK, without a reasonable excuse and inside or outside the UK faces a penalty of up to 14 years in prison. This is one of the more controversial elements of the bill given the high sentence and potential for criminalising refugees and private individuals not involved in smuggling. Charities assisting asylum seekers, rescue operations and humanitarian items including food and medical equipment (though not mobile phones) are excluded.
- Collecting information for use in immigration crime
- Endangering another during a sea crossing
A positive development is the introduction of new biometric powers for evacuees. This has likely been introduced to better deal with evacuations during a crisis, like in Afghanistan in 2021. Hopefully these biometric powers can be used in other scenarios such as refugee family reunion applications where attending a biometric appointment in the country of application or travel to a third country is impractical or impossible.
A less positive development is the potential for some of the criminal offences the Bill introduces to be applied to refugees themselves, rather than the smuggling gangs the legislation is targeting.
There will also be significant practical implications for asylum seekers whose phones are searched and seized on arrival in the UK. The policy of seizing and retaining asylum seekers’ phones on arrival was found to be unlawful in 2022 on the basis that this was a blanket, unpublished policy. The case is R (HM, MA, KH) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2022] EWHC 695 (Admin).
The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill can be read in full here. The House of Commons research briefing can be accessed here.