Illegal immigrants 'have very little chance of being caught' due to Government cuts, union boss claims

Lack of resources mean black market workers harder to catch, says General Secretary of Immigration Service Union Lucy Moreton

(PA)

Illegal immigrants in Britain can “survive very well” and have very little chance of being caught, a border workers' union boss has claimed.

Lucy Moreton, general secretary of the Immigration Service Union, said there were hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants working on the black market that cannot be tracked owing to a lack of resources and workforce cuts.

Speaking to The Sun, she said: “If you are here illegally, you can survive very well, you access medical services, your child can go to school, the chances of us catching you are very, very slim.

“If you don't break the law, we are not going to get you as we don't have the resources. We can't catch you.”

Ms Moreton's was speaking as she prepares to face questions from the Commons Home Affairs Committee on Brexit, which will hear evidence on the progress of negotiations.

The Home Office said more than 120,000 people have been denied entry to the UK since 2010.

A spokesman added: “Border Force and Immigration Enforcement should be judged on their results, not staff numbers. Recent successes speak for themselves - such as seizing a record amount of cocaine and returning 6,300 foreign national offenders, the highest number ever, last year.”

The immigration enforcement workforce is responsible for tracking immigration offenders and aims to prevent migrants from entering the UK illegally and overstaying and is separate to the Border Force which patrols customs at airports and ferry terminals.

PA