Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Border Force staff have been assigned to tackle employers of illegal immigrants in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

Border Force is a law enforcement command within the Home Office which secures the UK border by carrying out immigration and customs controls for people and goods entering the UK. Tackling employers of illegal migrants is dealt with by Immigration Enforcement which is responsible for preventing abuse, tracking immigration offenders and increasing compliance with immigration law.

In the event that an employer is found to have employed an illegal worker, they may be subject to a civil penalty of up to £20,000 per illegal worker unless they have undertaken the prescribed document checks. In the last five years Immigration Enforcement has issued over nine thousand civil penalties to the value of £110 million.