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Home Office urged to stop immigration raids on nursing homes

THE HOME OFFICE was urged today to stop inflicting needless harm on communities after new data showed that 190 immigration raids on nursing homes resulted in only 37 care-staff deportations between 2015 and 2019.

Moreover, during the same period, the Home Office conducted more than 44,000 “intelligence-led” immigration raids on private homes, yet fewer than one in six resulted in removals, according to data obtained by the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI). 

JCWI campaign officer Mary Atkinson said that the figures “show just how out of control the hostile environment has become.”

“Carers are being arrested in the middle of their shifts, often as they look after elderly and vulnerable people — it is difficult to see who could possibly benefit from that,” she said.  

“It’s time that the Home Office scrapped the hostile environment and prioritised keeping people safe instead of perpetuating a cruel set of immigration laws which cause needless harm to our communities.”

Corporate Watch, which has conducted extensive research into immigration raids, claims that the tactic is often based on “tip offs” that result in few arrests and are carried out to create a “climate of fear” among migrant communities. 

The Home Office said that tackling illegal working in the care sector is one of its main concerns, with individuals consistently found to use false identities and documents to secure employment and bypass Disclosure & Barring Service checks.

Responding to the figures, care workers’ union Unison said that the data shows “how inhumane and ineffective the government’s immigration policy is.”

Unison’s senior national care officer Gavin Edwards said: “The government needs to reform the immigration system so that it treats people with dignity and respect — not create fear and disruption for vulnerable people in care homes.”

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