Received a letter today from Theresa May regarding illegals released on so called immigration bail and fines imposed on employers of illegals.
11 July 2012
Dear Dedworth
Thank you for your emails regarding the deportation of illegal immigrants and the fines imposed on those who employ people illegally.
Although the Government prefers that people leave voluntarily, the UK Border Agency has set up local immigration teams across the UK to gather intelligence, tackle illegal working, and track down and detain immigration offenders. These teams work to prevent and disrupt illegal activity and arrest then deport offenders. Last year more than 4,500 foreign national offenders, many of whom had perpetrated crimes, were removed from the UK. When a foreign criminal poses a risk to the public, they should stay in detention, and the Government always opposes bail. However, as you will appreciate, UKBA has to act within the law. It is also important to note that foreign criminals awaiting deportation in the community will be subject to stringent reporting restrictions, with every effort being made to deport them as soon as possible.
With regard to the fines levied against businesses that employ illegal workers, from January to September 2011 I,111 fines were issued, 176 of which were for more than £10,000. In the same period £5.1 million was collected however it is important to make clear that some of this £5.1 million figure relates to penalties issued in previous years.
Thank you again for raising your concerns on this matter and I hope I have been able to provide you with some reassurance.
Yours sincerely,
The Rt Hon Theresa May MP
Tel.. 020 7219 5206 Fax.' 020 7219 1145
E-mail: mayt@parliament.uk
I'll obviously be responding
a) About the paltry amount of fines imposed and collected - I've said before it must cost more to administer than the money collected in
b) The whole flawed logic of releasing these people on "immigration bail". Their presence here is their crime and by giving them their liberty it hands them the chance to vanish again. They are here illegally we know nothing about them, they could be diseased, criminals or mass murderers therefore it should be assumed that they are a risk to the public and should be detained.
c) I also wrote -
Am I stupid in thinking that to avoid deportation these people need merely to move towns and fail to “report” ? Are there any figures available eg for 2011 showing how many people released on so called “immigration bail” go missing after failing to report. I'll ask for a response to this