KIDS born in the UK to illegal migrants face being deported with their parents under Shabana Mahmood’s crackdown on the creaking asylum system.
Children whose parents have had their immigration status revoked would be kicked out of the country too.
The move is to prevent people having kids once they come to the UK in a bid to stay in the country even if their refugee status ends.
A child does not automatically get British citizenship if they are born in the UK, but are eligible for it if they have lived here for the first 10 years of their life.
The change forms part of the biggest shake up of the UK’s asylum system in decades, with Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood attempting to restore order to a chaotic set of rules.
A Home Office policy document said the changes would stop any “perverse incentives” gained by having children after illegally coming into the country.
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The Government highlighted that there are families living off the state for “years on end” because they have no way to remove them under the current system.
The policy document stated: “We do not currently prioritise the return of families. As a result, many families of failed asylum seekers continue to live in this country, receiving free accommodation and financial support, for years on end.
“Our hesitancy around returning families creates particularly perverse incentives. To some, the personal benefit of placing a child on a dangerous small boat outweighs the considerable risks of doing so.
“Once in the UK, asylum seekers are able to exploit the fact that they have had children and put down roots in order to thwart removal, even if their claim has been legally refused.
“For instance, there are around 700 Albanian families whose asylum claims have been rejected, yet their removal is not currently being enforced by the Home Office, despite Albania having a gold-standard of cooperation with the UK on returns and being a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). “
On Monday the Home Office announced they will offer money to families who have no legal right to stay in the UK to go back to their home countries.
But if they refuse that support, they will then escalate that to a forced return – even if they have young children.
Officials are now launching a consultation on the process of deporting whole families.
Veteran Labour peer Lord Dubs, who came to Britain as a child after fleeing the Nazis, criticised the policy and accused the Home Secretary of using “children as a weapon”.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “There is a proper case for children, there is a proper case for family reunion when there are children who are on their own.
He added that “to use children as a weapon as the home secretary is doing I think is a shabby thing”.
This comes after we reported on Monday how all migrant appeals will be published in huge victory after The Sun exposed judges who worked as activist barristers.
New plans will make it easier for members of the public to hold taxpayer-funded judges accountable for both their decisions and their reasoning.
Currently, only judgments that reach senior judges at the Upper Tier Tribunal are published.
It means thousands of decisions on the interpretation of complicated immigration laws are being made every year without ANY published record.
Failed migrants to be given refuge in Britain by immigration judges include Clapham alkaline attacker Abdul Ezedi.
Baroness Sue Carr, the most senior judge in England and Wales, wrote: “Work on publishing judgments from the First-tier Tribunal Immigration and Asylum Chamber has moved from setting principles to planning how it will work in practice.
“The Board is reviewing the best platforms and processes to make all judgments publicly available.
“A scoping exercise to guide the full rollout of judgment publication is expected to finish within the next three to six months.”
The project has been set up by the Judiciary’s Transparency and Open Justice Board.
Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick said: “This is an important victory for The Sun who have been pushing to lift the veil of secrecy over immigration cases.
“The British people deserve to know the truth about who is being allowed to stay in this country and why.
“It will be much easier to fix our immigration system when all of its flaws are out in the open for all to see.”
Most FTT cases are heard with just four people at one of 12 courts – a judge, the migrant, their lawyer, and a Home Office presenting officer.
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Journalists and the public can apply for a copy of a decision under a pilot scheme launched earlier this year.
Pressure had been mounting on immigration courts to be more transparent after judges allowed foreign criminals to stay in Britain for bizarre reasons.
New migrant rules in FULL
By Martina Bet
Shorter Refugee Status & Tougher Path to Settlement
- People granted protection will receive only 30 months of leave instead of five years, and settlement will be possible only after 20 years.
- Anyone wanting to bring family to Britain will need to move onto a new “work and study” route instead of relying on long-term protection.
Stricter Asylum Support & End of Hotels
- The automatic duty to house and fund asylum seekers will be scrapped.
- Under new powers, asylum seekers with jewellery, cash, cars or other valuables will have them seized and used to pay towards their accommodation and living costs.
- The Home Secretary will also press ahead with shutting all asylum hotels and moving people into larger accommodation sites such as former military bases.
Crackdown on Illegal Working
- Raids and employer penalties will increase, gig-economy platforms will be forced to run tougher checks, and every foreign worker will need a digital ID by the end of Parliament.
Faster and Wider Removals, including Families
- Families whose asylum claims are rejected will be offered help to return voluntarily but will be deported as a unit if they refuse.
- The UK will also resume removals to places where conditions have changed, including Syria, and explore using “return hubs” in safe third countries.
- Ministers will also trial higher cash incentives than today’s £3,000 payments to encourage more migrants to leave voluntarily before expensive enforcement kicks in.
New One-Shot Appeals System and Human Rights Crackdown
- A new appeals body will decide cases quickly, late claims will be restricted, and weak cases will be refused after one interview.
- Late claims will be heavily restricted, including tighter rules on Article 8 and ministers will also push for international reform of Article 3.
New Capped ‘Safe and Legal’ Routes
- Community sponsorship will be the main doorway for refugees, with strict limits based on what local areas can handle.
- There will also be capped routes for displaced students and skilled refugees so people have alternatives to illegal entry.
Visa Curbs
- Shabana Mahmood will ban three countries from accessing UK visas if they fail to take back illegal migrants.
- Three African countries, Angola Namibia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, will face visa sanctions, blocking their tourists, VIPs and business people from travelling to Britain if they do not cooperate more on the removal of illegal migrants.