The Border Security, Immigration and Asylum Bill was introduced in February 2025. We welcome the repeal of the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration Act) and much of the Illegal Migration Act, given our serious concerns about both pieces of legislation.
However, our briefings set out the following concerns:
- Unrepealed provisions of the Illegal Migration Act and Nationality and Borders Act. The Bill retains provisions in the Illegal Migration Act which gave the Home Secretary wide power to define a reasonable period of detention (rather than our independent courts) (s12), removed protection for victims of trafficking and modern slavery if they had a criminal conviction (s29) and extended the ability of the Home Office to declare human rights claims inadmissible (s59).
It also retains provisions of the Nationality and Borders Bill including introducing limited leave for certain refugees (s12), restrictions on modern slavery/ trafficking protections (s59 and s63) and provisions that would affect access to justice and the rule of law including:
- an accelerated detained appeal process (s27)
- priority removal notices curtailing appeal rights (s20 – 25)
- the limitation of appeal rights for late claims (s26) and
- ‘no notice’ removals in certain circumstances (s46).
This Bill is an important opportunity to repeal these provisions.
- New immigration powers. The Bill gives the Home Secretary new powers over immigration detention and the seizure of electronic devices. We are concerned that the seizure powers will amount to blanket seizure of electronic devices of asylum-seekers, which has previously been found to be unlawful. We are also recommending that the powers to change the detention rules and immigration fee regime should not be retrospective and undermine legal certainty.
- Serious Crime Prevention Orders. The Bill would expand the scope and availability of Serious Crime Prevention Orders, with wider implications for the criminal justice system. Our Behavioural Control Orders report identified significant concerns with how such orders were operating in practice, including a lack of procedural safeguards. We are opposed to their expansion in this Bill.
- New criminal offences. Four new criminal offences are created for identified immigration crimes. We have briefed that there needs to be a specific exemption to provide clarity for those providing legitimate legal services that they will not be within scope of the new offence of collecting information for use in immigration crime. Further, the proposed prison sentences appear disproportionately high, with a potential impact on the Government’s wider work to reform criminal sentencing.
JUSTICE will continue to raise these issues as the Bill progresses through Parliament. This is an important opportunity to reset the UK’s approach to immigration and asylum policy and the Government should focus on an evidence-led approach to the complex issues that need addressing. Tackling issues such as small boats crossings will require international cooperation, which will not be possible unless we are steadfast in our commitment to international legal instruments, such as the ECHR and the Refugee Convention.
Click here to read JUSTICE’s House of Commons Committee Stage Briefing