New figures reveal a significant surge in enforcement actions against illegal working in the UK, with both visits to businesses and arrests reaching their highest levels since records began in 2019.
Data indicates that 12,791 visits were conducted in 2025 to establishments such as nail bars, car washes, barbers, and takeaway shops.
This marks a substantial near-57 per cent increase from the 8,122 visits recorded in the previous year.
Arrests related to illegal working also hit a record high, with 8,971 individuals apprehended last year – a nearly 59 per cent rise compared to the 5,647 arrests made in 2024, which was previously the highest point in Home Office data.
Of those arrested, 1,087 people have so far been removed from the UK.
These intensified efforts are part of the government’s broader strategy to crack down on illegal working and deter individuals from entering the country unlawfully.
Home secretary Shabana Mahmood said: “There is no place for illegal working in our communities.
“That is why we have surged enforcement activity to the highest level in British history, so illegal migrants in the black economy have nowhere to hide.
“I will stop at nothing to restore order and control to our borders.”
The Home Office also said visits from enforcement personnel were up 77 per cent and arrests were up 83 per cent since Labour came to power.
Some 17,483 visits and 12,322 arrests were recorded between July 2024 and December last year, up from 9,894 and 6,725, respectively across January 2023 to June 2024.
Of the arrests, 1,726 people have been returned so far, up 35 per cent on the 1,283 removed from visits in the previous 18-month period.
Among visits by immigration enforcement, officers arrested 13 people at a warehouse in Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex, on 25 November, which led to 11 Brazilian and Romanian nationals being detained for removal from the UK.
On 16 December, officers arrested 30 Indian and Albanian men at a construction site in Swindon, Wiltshire, the Home Office said, nearly all of whom were detained for removal from the UK, including five released on immigration bail.
Home Office director for enforcement teams, Eddy Montgomery, said: “While this is a great achievement, our activity won’t stop here, we will continue to bear down on this criminality in our towns, cities and villages to ensure there is no hiding place from immigration laws.”
Immigration enforcement was given £5m to arrest, detain and remove migrants working illegally at sites such as takeaways, beauty salons and car washes.
Officers have also been wearing body-worn cameras since September to help with arrests and prosecutions.
Elsewhere, tighter right-to-work checks have also been introduced under the government’s new Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act, forcing casual, temporary or subcontracted workers to have to prove their status.
Employers who fail to carry out checks could face up to five years in prison, fines of £60,000 for each illegal worker they have employed, and having their business closed.
New Home Office TikTok account showing immigration raids branded ‘laughable gimmick’
Experts predict UK mortgage market ‘boom’ in 2026
Musk ‘ideologically committed’ to pushing free speech boundaries – Louise Haigh
Labour MPs call for planned Chinese ‘mega-embassy’ in London to be axed
Revealed: The number of Met officers and staff who have links to the Freemasons
