The Home Office intended for the first deportation to occur earlier this week, but it was postponed when a High Court judge on Tuesday granted a “short period of interim relief” for another migrant’s departure. This delay was to allow lawyers to assess if the individual had been a victim of modern slavery.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood described this as “an important first step to securing our borders” and emphasized that it “sends a message to people crossing in small boats: if you enter the U.K. illegally, we will seek to remove you.”
Mahmood asserted she would “continue to challenge any last-minute, vexatious attempts to frustrate a removal in the courts.”
Since Labour assumed power in July 2024, over 50,000 people have crossed the Channel in small boats. Prime Minister Keir Starmer took office with a commitment to “smash the gangs” after former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s election loss, partly attributed to the inability to “stop the boats.”
France also aims to decrease the number of boat crossings by adjusting its rules on how boats are intercepted at sea.
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