Indian restaurants among targets of UK 'blitz' against illegal migrants

Home Office conducts UK-wide blitz on illegal working, targeting Indian restaurants, nail bars, and convenience stores.

Indian restaurants, nail bars, convenience stores, and car washes were among the targets of what the Home Office on Monday (February 10, 2025) described as a “UK-wide blitz” on illegal working in the country.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said her department’s Immigration Enforcement teams had a record-breaking January as they descended on 828 premises -- a 48% rise compared to the previous January, with arrests surging to 609, and marking a 73% increase from the previous year.

The Home Office said that while its teams respond to illegal working intelligence in all sectors, a significant proportion of last month’s activity took place at restaurants, takeaways and cafes as well as in the food, drink and tobacco industry.

A visit to one Indian restaurant in Humberside, northern England, alone led to seven arrests and four detentions, it noted.

“The immigration rules must be respected and enforced. For far too long, employers have been able to take on and exploit illegal migrants and too many people have been able to arrive and work illegally with no enforcement action ever taken,” said Cooper.

“Not only does this create a dangerous draw for people to risk their lives by crossing the Channel in a small boat, but it results in the abuse of vulnerable people, the immigration system, and our economy,” she said.

It comes as the Labour Party government’s Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill returns to Parliament for its second reading this week.