Returns and deportations have reached their highest level in nearly a decade. The number of foreign criminals avoiding removal has reached a record high of almost 20,000, as Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood commits to expanding detention capacity for illegal migrants.
Home Office figures indicate 19,779 offenders currently reside in the UK despite active deportation orders. This total has more than doubled from 8,500 in 2020 and risen sharply from 5,895 recorded in March 2016.
Many individuals selected for removal have completed prison sentences and now live freely in Britain. Officials report increasing use of human rights arguments to contest deportation and postpone departure.
A review of over 400 immigration appeals in the past 18 months showed that offenders convicted of sexual offences, robbery, fraud, arson and domestic abuse have successfully blocked removal. Most cases relied on Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which safeguards family life.
More than 40 percent of successful appeals cited either Article 8 family rights or Article 3 persecution risks. Of 340 foreign criminals appealing on human rights grounds, 149 cases were upheld.
In 3,000 Upper Tribunal decisions, 426 concerned foreign criminals. Of these, 369 had committed offences in the UK and most appealed on human rights grounds. Judges permitted a notable share to remain after assessing family connections.
One example involved a Pakistani national convicted of drug offences who avoided deportation after a court accepted that removal would stop him teaching his son to shave and discussing matters a mother could not. The claim succeeded under Article 8.
On 29 June 2026, Ms Mahmood will announce a 40 percent increase in detention places. The government plans to remove an additional 45,000 foreign criminals and failed asylum seekers over the next ten years.
Detention centres at Campsfield in Oxfordshire and Haslar in Hampshire will expand significantly. Combined capacity will reach 1,000 beds, the highest level in almost a decade.
Under new contracts, Haslar will grow from 130 to 600 beds and Campsfield from 160 to 400. Nationwide immigration removal centre capacity will rise to 3,440 spaces.
Ms Mahmood stated that returns are at their highest level in nearly a decade, with nearly 70,000 people removed since the government took office. She said further expansion will enable removal of thousands more foreign criminals and illegal migrants.
Legislation now permits deportation of foreign criminals immediately after sentencing. Additional reforms will limit Article 8 claims to immediate family relationships only and replace the two-tier tribunal system with a single appeals body.
Asylum seekers must submit all claims in one process and will be removed if unsuccessful, even if new relationships form later. Since July 2024, around 70,000 people have been deported, including 10,000 foreign national offenders.
Immigration enforcement spending will increase from £681 million in 2023-24 to £1.33 billion by 2028-29, with staff rising from 4,500 to 7,300.
Conservative MPs said the measures do not go far enough. Shadow home secretary Chris Philp argued that current removal rates would take 50 years to clear the backlog and that changes to Article 8 alone will have limited impact.
