Reform's ICE-style deportation plan branded 'sadistic'

Reform UK's plan to create an ICE-style deportation agency has been condemned as "sadistic", after the party's home affairs spokesperson vowed to face down "progressive outrage".

- Rajeev Syal Peter Walker

Zia Yusuf, introduced as “the shadow home secretary” at a press conference in Dover yesterday, said mass deportations carried out by a planned UK deportation command would not trigger the kind of violent showdowns seen in the US because “policing is done by consent” in the UK. He also described the number of migrants arriving in the country as an “invasion”.

His remarks came as Reform set out plans to tackle immigration, including mass deportations, expanded surveillance powers and a ban on the conversion of churches into mosques.

The party also wants to scrap indefinite leave to remain, replacing it with a renewable five-year work visa and a dedicated spouse visa. There would also be a new rule mandating automatic home searches for anyone referred to the Prevent counter-terrorism programme by three “separate, corroborating authorities”, the party said.

Yusuf said the proposed UK deportation command would have the capacity to detain 24,000 people at any one time and deport up to 288,000 annually, operating five flights a day.

As of April 2024 there were approximately 2,500 detention spaces, and experts have previously warned that expanding capacity on this scale would involve significant costs.