The Conservatives have pledged to deport 150,00 people a year with a Donald Trump-style immigration crackdown.
Kemi Badenoch plans to create a new “Removals Force” modelled on the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agency.
The proposals, which will be set out in more detail as the Tory conference begins on Sunday, will see the Removals Force given £1.6 billion and “sweeping new powers” including the use of facial recognition without warning to spot illegal immigrants.
Mrs Badenoch told the Telegraph she “wouldn’t be surprised” if US President Mr Trump “loved” her migration plan, but said she was more interested in the views of people in the UK.
She pledged to stop “silly arguments” about human rights from stopping her doing the “right thing” if she was in No 10.
The new force will be expected to “integrate closely” with the police, who will be required to conduct immigration checks on everyone they stop or arrest.
In the US, Ice has been heavily criticised in the past year, accused of arresting both legal migrants and American citizens and targeting people based on their race.
The proposal forms part of the Conservatives’ “Borders Plan”, announced as Tory activists gather in Manchester.
Immigration is to be one of the key themes of the gathering, with “Stronger Borders” one of two slogans hanging from the front of the conference centre.
Some 34,401 people have crossed the Channel in small boats so far this year, according to PA news agency analysis of Home Office figures, putting 2025 on course to break the record for most arrivals in a single year.
Mrs Badenoch said: “We must tackle the scourge of illegal immigration into Britain and secure our borders.
“That is why the Conservatives are setting out a serious and comprehensive new plan to end this crisis.”
Along with the Removals Force, the plan includes a radical overhaul of the asylum system, in which refugee status would be granted only to those threatened by a foreign government.
Those fleeing conflict or “less tolerant” laws on religion or sexuality would not be eligible, with the party saying “few people will qualify”.
The plan will also see the immigration tribunal abolished, with all decisions on migration taken by the Home Office with only limited rights of appeal in cases where officials have acted without statutory authority.
Immigration cases will be denied legal aid, with the Conservatives accusing solicitors of having “defrauded” the UK by “coaching” applicants, and saying there is “no need for lawyers” as people “should simply tell the truth about their circumstances”.
The Tories have said they would look to leave the European Convention on Human Rights if they win the next election, saying the treaty had “frustrated the country’s efforts to secure its borders and deport those with no right to be here”.
Mrs Badenoch faces continued pressure on her right flank in the shape of Reform UK, which has already pledged to leave the ECHR and deport up to 600,000 people over five years if it comes to power.
She said: “Reform have nothing but announcements that fall apart on arrival. Our Stronger Borders plan is serious and credible and backed by a comprehensive legal analysis.
“That is the difference the next Conservative government will deliver.”
She also accused the Government of offering “failed gimmicks”, including its one in, one out deal with France – dubbed “one thousand in, one out” by Mrs Badenoch – which has so far seen just 18 people returned after crossing the Channel.
As she arrived at the Tory conference, Mrs Badenoch said she could turn her party’s fortunes around.
Her party has seen support collapse in opinion polls in recent months, consistently trailing third behind Nigel Farage’s Reform UK and Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour.
Asked if she could turn things around, she said: “Absolutely, and this week we’re going to be showing what our plan is.
“We’re the only party with a credible plan to deliver both a stronger economy and stronger borders.”
Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick said the country needed to “send a very clear signal” that anyone arriving illegally had “zero chance of making a life in the UK”.
He told the Sunday Express: “We have to secure our borders and we have got to bring the numbers of people coming into our country right down and give everyone breathing space.”
A Labour Party spokesperson said: “The Conservatives’ message on immigration is: we got everything wrong, we won’t apologise, now trust us.
“It won’t wash – Kemi Badenoch’s party enabled record high net migration as removals plummeted, opened over 400 asylum hotels and wasted £700 million of taxpayers’ money to send just four volunteers to Rwanda.
“This Labour Government is fixing the Tories’ mess by smashing the people-smuggling gangs running the vile small boats trade, closing asylum hotels, deporting foreign criminals and signing international returns deals to bring order to Britain’s borders.”
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