Kemi Badenoch has appeared to suggest "camps" should be set up for asylum seekers as an alternative to housing them in hotels while their applications to remain in the UK are assessed.
The Tory leader met anti-migrant protesters and people in Epping high street on Monday as the number of English Channel small boat crossings nears 50,000 since Sir Keir Starmer took office.
She warned some communities “don’t feel safe” during her visit to the Essex town, which has seen weeks of protests outside a migrant hotel after an asylum seeker was charged with an alleged assault on a 14-year-old girl.
Latest Home Office figures show a record 49,797 people have arrived on British shores by small boat since Labour won last year’s general election.
"We've got to turn things around very quickly. We cannot use rules from 1995, or 2005, or even 2015 for 2025," Ms Badenoch said.
"Our world is changing very quickly, and we need to adapt to it."
The leader of the opposition added: "Is it possible for us to set up camps and police that, rather than bringing all of this hassle into communities?
"As a party, we need to also hear from the community about what you think the solutions are. We don't have all the answers; it's important that we make sure that the community is part of the problem solved."
France has seen refugees stay in camps while their asylum claims were processed or they waited to attempt a crossing to the UK. The infamous Calais Jungle was cleared in October 2016 after drawing global media attention as migrants lived in squalor.
One member of the community who attended the meeting with Ms Badenoch accused the Conservative party of shutting down local services, including the police station, magistrates' court and probation offices.
Ms Badenoch, who is MP for North West Essex, replied: "I wasn't there. but I remember the argument that 'we've run out of money, we've got to save money from somewhere'."
She added: "We are spending money on emergency situations rather than on the day-to-day to create the structure and the stability."
It comes after the Labour government revealed plans to deport foreign national offenders before their appeals have been heard.
The "deport now, appeal later" scheme will see another 15 countries, including India, Bulgaria and Australia, included, bringing the total to 23 countries under the proposals announced on Monday.
The Government said the expansion of the programme would help "scale up" the country's ability to remove foreign criminals, alongside other measures announced on Sunday to deport offenders as soon as they are sentenced.
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the move, which requires parliamentary approval, would save £54,000 a year per prison place.
Ms Badenoch said: "When we were deporting criminals, Keir Starmer was writing letters trying to stop our deportations, so I'll believe it when I see it.
"This is the sort of stuff that they should have been doing on day one. The fact that they tried to stop deportations before means that I don't really believe it.
"The Government has released 26,000 prisoners since they came to power, released them early, there are now more criminals on our streets, that's what I'm really worried about."
