Arrests of unlawful overseas employees attain a document 600 in only one month as channel migrants are detected in Britain’s black financial system

Record numbers of illegal workers are being arrested, figures show, as it was confirmed that small-boat migrants have been detected in Britain’s black economy.

Home Office officials said 609 arrests of illegal workers were made last month, the highest since figures began being collected in 2019.

There were also 828 raids on workplaces suspected of illegally employing foreign staff in January, up from 556 in the same month last year and from 171 in January 2019. 

The Government has begun releasing details of the raids in the wake of polls showing Labour would lose more seats to the Reform party than the Conservatives would.

The Red Wall group of around 40 Labour MPs has called on its ministers to send a stronger message on immigration to head off the electoral threat.

Officers from the Home Office’s Immigration Enforcement agency have uncovered migrants who arrived illegally across the Channel also working illegally, it was revealed. 

Premises targeted last month included nail bars, convenience stores, restaurants, takeaways, cafes and car washes.

Illegal workers can end up living in ‘squalid’ conditions and working ‘inhumane hours’ for ‘little or no pay’, Home Office sources said.

There were 828 raids on workplaces suspected of illegally employing foreign staff in January, up from 556 in the same month last year (pictured, a raid on a bed factory in the town of Tipton, West Midlands, in 2024) 

The Government has begun releasing details of the raids in the wake of polls showing Labour would lose more seats to Reform than the Conservatives (pictured, immigration enforcement officers taking part in a raid in the town of Warrenpoint, Co Down, in 2023)

Gangs involved in people trafficking have been driving illegal migration by giving migrants ‘false promises’ about their ability to work here, they added. 

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: ‘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. 

‘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.

‘That’s why, as part of our Plan for Change, we are boosting enforcement to record levels alongside tough new legislation to smash the criminal gangs.’ 

A raid on vape shops in Cheshire led to ten immigration arrests and two criminal arrests for counterfeit documents, a Home Office spokesman said. 

An enforcement visit to an Indian restaurant in Humberside led to seven arrests and four detentions. And one to a grocery warehouse in south London resulted in six arrests and four people being detained.

French president Emmanuel Macron’s government has repeatedly blamed the small-boat crisis on Britain’s black economy. 

Migrants board a smuggler’s inflatable dinghy as they attempt to cross the English Channel to reach Great Britain at Sangatte beach near Calais, northern France, on January 15, 2025

French officials claim illegal Channel migrants are driven to come here by the prospect of being able to work illegally.

Mayor of Calais Natacha Bouchart said last year that the UK remained an ‘El Dorado’ for migrants seeking illegal work.

New Government data said illegal working arrests jumped by 38 per cent between July 5 last year and January 31 compared with the previous equivalent period.