Samuel Omang
The leader of the United Kingdom’s Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, has announced a sweeping new immigration strategy aimed at detaining and deporting 150,000 illegal migrants every year — a plan she described as “the toughest reforms Britain has ever seen.”
In a video message shared on her X (formerly Twitter) account on Sunday, Badenoch introduced what she called the Radical Borders Plan, promising a complete overhaul of the UK’s border enforcement system.
“My message is clear: if you’re here illegally, you will be detained and deported,” she declared.
According to Badenoch, the plan will establish a new Removals Force — modelled after the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) — to replace the existing Home Office Immigration Enforcement unit. The new agency will have expanded powers, including the use of facial recognition technology to identify and remove undocumented migrants.
She blamed both the Conservative and Labour governments for “failing on immigration,” accusing Labour in particular of presiding over record illegal crossings and wasting taxpayers’ money on asylum accommodations.
“Labour promised to smash the gangs. Instead, in just a year, they delivered record small boat crossings, over 50,000 illegal arrivals, 32,000 people in asylum hotels, and billions wasted. It’s pure weakness,” Badenoch said.
Under the proposed reforms, asylum claims from illegal entrants will be banned, the Human Rights Act repealed, and the UK will withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
She also announced that all illegal arrivals would be deported within a week, and visa sanctions would be imposed on countries that refuse to repatriate their citizens.
Badenoch said the new agency would also “shut down the asylum hotel racket,” save taxpayers billions, and restore public confidence in Britain’s borders.
“Only the Conservatives have a serious, credible plan to deliver stronger borders,” she added. “If you come here illegally, you will be deported.”
However, Badenoch faced criticism during an interview on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme, where she appeared evasive when asked about the destinations of deported migrants.
“I’m tired of all of these irrelevant questions about where they should go,” she responded. “They will go back to where they should be or another country, but they should not be here.”
When pressed further, she added: “They will go back to where they came from.”
Reports by Sky News indicate that the new Removals Force will be granted sweeping operational powers, allowing it to act without prior notice in identifying and removing undocumented migrants.
If implemented, Badenoch’s Radical Borders Plan would represent one of the most significant overhauls of Britain’s immigration policy in decades — a move likely to intensify the country’s ongoing political debate over border control, human rights, and the treatment of asylum seekers.