Illegal Migration Act 2023

The Illegal Migration Act 2023 (c. 37) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, introduced by the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Suella Braverman, in March 2023. The main focus of the bill is to reduce or end "small boat crossings", across the English Channel, by ways described as "pushing against international law".

The legislation proposes to detain and remove those from the UK who arrive in that country by illegal means, as well as blocking them from returning. Its announcement follows a sharp increase in the number of migrants crossing the English Channel by boat, which increased from 300 annually in 2018 to 45,000 in 2022, and 3,150 as of March 2023. This issue was one of five key priorities outlined in January 2023 by prime minister Rishi Sunak, who tweeted: "If you come here illegally, you can't claim asylum. You can't benefit from our modern slavery protections. You can't make spurious human rights claims and you can't stay."

The bill had its third reading in the House of Commons on 26 April 2023. MPs voted 289–230 in favour of the bill, which was then sent to the House of Lords for consideration.

On 5 July 2023, the government confirmed that they would go ahead with the bill, despite defeat in the House of Lords.

On 11 July 2023, Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick confirmed the government did not support what he described as “little short of wrecking amendments” to the bill.

On 20 July 2023, the bill received royal assent.

Reactions
The proposed bill has been met with backlash from UK rights groups and United Nations agencies, and questions about its legality have been raised.

The bill drew criticism from BBC sports presenter Gary Lineker, who posted tweets about the plans, including one in which he described its language as "not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s". The BBC subsequently removed him from his presenting role on Match of the Day, saying Lineker's statement violated their impartiality policy. The company's actions led to other journalists and commentators withdrawing in support of Lineker.