Enforcement action Man detained 21 years after moving to UK from Portugal

A motorcycle rider on a shopping trip was arrested and detained for a month under a crackdown on undocumented migrants working for food delivery apps.

- Tom Wall

Fernando Fontoura, 33, who moved from Portugal to the UK when he was 12, was arrested by immigration enforcement officers after he parked his motorbike near a grocery store in southeast London on 22 July. He was immediately taken to a detention centre near Gatwick, where he was held for 29 days.

"I've been here [in the UK] for 21 years. It is completely unfair," he said. "[The Home Office] says I have no lawful basis to be in the UK. But my family is here. My fiancee is here. I've been paying taxes here for over 10 years. I studied here. I did my GCSEs and NVQs here. I received my insurance number at the age of 16." Fontoura's family moved to London in 2004 with his father working in construction and his mother working as a cleaner.