Ninety people cross English Channel in two boats on Christmas Day
More than 45,000 migrants have made the dangerous journey to the UK from France in 2022.
![Home Secretary Suella Braverman is working to tighten immigration rules (Stefan Rousseau/PA)](https://static.independent.co.uk/2022/12/26/13/265cf118e1fab10a3dc52a75d8e511e9Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNjcyMTQ1MjA2-2.70336508.jpg)
Support truly
independent journalism
Our mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.
Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.
Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.
![Louise Thomas](https://static.independent.co.uk/static-assets/support-us/louise-thomas.png)
Louise Thomas
Editor
Ninety people crossed the English Channel in two small boats on Christmas Day.
They were the first crossings recorded since December 21 and take the provisional total for migrants making the dangerous journey from France this year to 45,756.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has promised legislation in the new year to help tackle the problem by making sure that if someone enters the UK illegally they do not have the right to stay in the country.
Meanwhile ministers are also working to tighten immigration rules to curb numbers coming to the country legally.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman has drawn up a plan that would target foreign students, make it harder to bring spouses to the UK, and increase the minimum salaries for companies employing skilled workers, The Times reported.
Under a draft of the proposals, seen by the newspaper, the Government would increase the minimum income threshold for British citizens applying for a family visa.
Currently a couple must earn at least £18,600 and may need thousands more for any children they seek to bring to the UK.
The plans could also make it harder for overseas students to bring dependants with them.
Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick has previously suggested that the rules around student dependants are “ripe for reform” as he is concerned people are coming to university as a “backdoor way of bringing their families into the UK”.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.