Authorities will launch a crackdown against employers who give jobs to people in the country illegally, ministers have said.
Immigration minister James Brokenshire described people providing work to unauthorised migrants as “rogue employers” and said they would feel “the full force of the law”.
“Rogue employers who give jobs to illegal migrants are denying work to UK citizens and legal migrants and helping drive down wages,” he argued.
“Experience tells us that employers who are prepared to cheat employment rules are also likely to breach health and safety rules and pay insufficient tax.
“That's why our new approach will be to use the full force of government machinery to hit them from all angles and take away the unfair advantage enjoyed by those who employ illegal migrants.”
The Times newspaper reports that such measures will include a wave of raids in the autumn which will target building sites, care homes and cleaning contractors.
The push comes after the Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said “millions” of migrants coming from Africa would undermine European standards of living.
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“Europe can't protect itself and preserve its standard of living and social structure, if it has to absorb millions of migrants from Africa,” he said at a speech in Singapore.
Human rights groups criticised Mr Hammond while Labour accused him of “scaremongering”.
Opposition leadership candidate Liz Kendall told Sky News that the Government’s language on the issue had been “dehumanising” and that they needed to do more to tackle the “root causes” of migration in Africa.
There is very little evidence to suggest that migration has a significant negative impact on wages or employment.
A study by researchers at the London School of Economics earlier this year found that immigration to Britain has not increased unemployment or reduced wages.
