Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help prevent illegal immigration into the United Kingdom.

To prevent illegal entry into the UK, the Government has introduced the Nationality and Borders Bill, which will:

• Introduce new and tougher criminal offences for those attempting to enter the UK illegally by raising the penalty for illegal entry from six months’ to four years imprisonment and introducing life sentences for people smugglers.
• Provide Border Force with additional powers to:

o Search unaccompanied containers located within ports for the presence of illegal migrants;

o Seize and dispose of any vessels intercepted and encountered;

o Stop and divert vessels suspected of carrying illegal migrants to the UK and, subject to agreement with the relevant country such as France, return them to where their sea journey to the UK began.

• Increase the penalty for Foreign National Offenders who return to the UK in breach of a deportation order from six months’ to five years’ imprisonment.
• Implement an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) scheme to block the entry of those who present a threat to the UK.