Arrests for illegal working have soared to their highest levels since records began, following an uplift in enforcement action.
Under Operation Sterling, the government invested £5 million into Immigration Enforcement, to target, arrest, detain, deport and return illegal workers in takeaways, fast food drivers, beauty salons and car washes.
New figures show more than 8,000 illegal migrants have been arrested after 11,000 raids were carried out by Immigration Enforcement from October 2024 to September 2025.
Marking the largest enforcement crackdown on illegal working since records began, the data reveals a significant increase year on year of 63% and 51% for arrests and visits, respectively. Over 1,050 foreign nationals encountered on these operations have been removed from the country.
This comes as government is expanding right to work checks under tough new laws, to ensure it covers categories of employers where there are higher levels of illegal migrants seeking work, including gig economy employers.
While it is a criminal offence for migrants to work illegally, only companies using traditional employer to employee contracts are obliged to verify someone’s immigration status and whether it permits them to work in the UK.
The new laws close this loophole so there will be no hiding place for illegal workers who flout the rules in the gig, casual, subcontracted and temporary worker economy.
Bosses who fail to conduct these checks could be jailed for up to five years, face fines of £60,000 per illegal worker and have their businesses closed.
Cracking down on illegal working also addresses an incentive to come to Britain illegally, by taking steps to shrink the black economy and penalise rogue employers who ignore immigration rules.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, said:
Illegal working creates an incentive for people attempting to arrive in this country illegally. No more.
Those found to be illegally working in beauty salons, car washes and as delivery drivers will be arrested, detained and removed from this country.
I will do whatever it takes to secure Britain’s borders.
To further ensure people can only work in the UK if they have permission, the government announced last month it will be introducing digital ID, which will be mandatory to prove someone’s right to work by the end of Parliament.
Digital ID is another tool in the government’s armoury to attack every aspect of smuggling gangs’ business model. It will make it harder for illegal migrants to find work, and harder for rogue employers to hire illegal workers. Digitising checks will mean government is able to identify rogue employers who are failing to conduct checks.
In short, it will create a simpler, more consistent way for employers to check someone’s right to work. As everyone will need a digital ID to prove their right to work, it will make it harder for people to avoid checks or use forged documents as proof.
The measures build on this government’s work to restore order to the immigration system and end the lure of illegal working that gangs use to sell spaces on small boats. To further deter migrants from making these life-threatening journeys, small boat arrivals are now being detained and returned under the landmark UK-France deal. Furthermore, 35,000 people with no right to be in the UK have been returned – with the rate of removal up 13% under this government.
A six-week consultation – launching on the Right to Work changes will seek views and information on existing recruitment processes, how businesses use different working arrangements themselves and within supply chains. The aim is to ensure businesses get the guidance they need to roll out the tougher checks, clarifying when these checks need to take place and how to do them.
On top of this, the government is working closely with industry partners including food delivery giants Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats, who have strengthened ID verification checks across their platforms. The Home Office has also implemented a data sharing agreement with the firms, to securely share locations of hotels used for asylum accommodation, in a bid to catch asylum seekers working illegally as delivery riders.
