MPs called an immigration enforcement hotline 68 times last year, it has been revealed, prompting concerns that vulnerable constituents could be deterred from seeking help for fear of being detained.
The Home Office disclosed in responses to written questions from Labour’s David Lammy that 34 calls were from Conservatives, 32 from Labour MPs, one from a Democratic Unionist party MP and one from a Liberal Democrat.
A coalition of 15 charities have signed up 107 MPs to pledge they will not inform on their constituents. The MPs include many members of the shadow cabinet such as Diane Abbott, Jon Ashworth and Richard Burgon, and a single Conservative, Heidi Allen.
The charities have now written to the Speaker, John Bercow, seeking more support for the “MPs not border guards” pledge.
In the letter, first reported by the BBC, the charities said they will advise people not to seek help from MPs who do not sign the pledge, and asked Bercow to raise the issue in the House of Commons “at the earliest opportunity and request that party whips instruct their MPs to immediately cease the practice”.
The letter said: “MPs have a responsibility to advocate for all their constituents, regardless of immigration status. Many migrants are now fearful of contacting their MP, effectively excluding them from democratic representation.”
Akram Salhab, who coordinated the campaign for the groups Migrants Organise and Global Justice Now, said: “Some have said that they will not report people for immigration enforcement but may do if they have committed a crime. But these are separate issues – if someone has committed a serious crime, they should be reported to the police, not the Home Office.”
The Conservative MP Christopher Chope said he was among those who had made reports to the hotline, but said it had not been to inform on constituents seeking help.
“I have reported cases of immigration crime on behalf of constituents who have felt their neighbours are engaged in illegal working when they shouldn’t have been in the country,” he told the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire programme.
“Home Office policy is very much to ensure that, as far as possible, life is made uncomfortable for those 1 million illegals, so that they will be encouraged to go back to where they came from rather than be a burden on our public services here,” Chope said.
He said constituents would “want MPs to have the same responsibilities to report immigration crime as we expect other members of the public to do”.
