Immigration minister James Brokenshire pledges to crackdown on “rogue employers”
Ministers are to ramp up their actions against illegal immigration by targeting “rogue employers” who give illegal migrants jobs.
The government is going to focus on employers in three sectors of the economy: construction, care and cleaning, immigration minister James Brokenshire told The Times. Suspected employers will be raided by enforcement teams as the government attempts to create a “hostile environment” for illegal immigration.
Brokenshire said:
Rogue employers who give jobs to illegal migrants are denying work to UK citizens and legal migrants, and helping drive down wages.
Experience tells us that employers who are prepared to cheat employment rules are also likely to breach health and safety rules and pay insufficient tax.
That's why our new approach will be to use the full force of government machinery to hit them from all angles and take away the unfair advantage enjoyed by those who employ illegal migrants.
Read more: Firms must crack down on illegal migrants
In particular the new immigration bill, which is to be published in the autumn, will bear down on the so-called shadow economy, where illegal immigrants are more easily and often exploited.
The bill will include reforms to labour market rules to help overcome businesses exploiting cheap illegal labour.
The move comes during the ongoing migrant crisis in Calais, with foreign secretary Philip Hammond claiming that immigrants are hurting EU living standards.
Speaking in Singapore to the BBC, Hammond said:
So long as there are large numbers of pretty desperate migrants marauding around the area, there always will be a threat to the tunnel security. We’ve got to resolve this problem ultimately by being able to return those who are not entitled to claim asylum back to their countries of origin.
Now, that is not a sustainable situation because Europe can’t protect itself and preserve its standard of living and social infrastructure, if it has to absorb millions of migrants from Africa.
Read more: Foreign secretary Philip Hammond says government “has got a grip” on crisis
Prime Minister David Cameron had previously said the immigration bill was intended to control and reduce the number of people moving to Britain, including powers to penalise landlords.
However, businesses had rejected Cameron’s calls for immigration reforms in May, citing concerns over visa rules and the need for foreign talent.