Home Office data from 11 UK cities obtained by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and the Bristol Cable casts doubt on ‘intelligence’ behind stops

One in five people stopped by immigration enforcement teams in Britain’s biggest cities is a UK national, according to newly revealed figures that critics say cast doubt on official claims that such stops are “intelligence-led”.

The figures, obtained through freedom of information requests, show that out of 102,552 stopped in the past five years, 19,096 – 18.6% – were British citizens. Lawyers say they lend credence to suspicions of unlawful racial profiling.

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ), working with the Bristol Cable, obtained the new Home Office data after repeated attempts by officials to block their requests stalled its release for seven months.

The data, which covers 11 of the largest cities in England, Wales and Scotland, shows that in London alone, 8,002 British citizens were stopped. In Sheffield and Glasgow, nearly a third of those stopped were British citizens.

In each city, British citizens were the most stopped nationality, despite Home Office guidance which states that stops must be carried out on “an intelligence-led basis”.

Immigration enforcement is the Home Office body responsible for tracking down people who are in the country illegally and ensuring they return to their home countries. In recent years their liveried vans have become an increasingly common sight in areas with large migrant communities.

Two barristers at Garden Court Chambers, Chris Williams and Nicola Braganza, who analysed the data, concluded that “by reason of those individuals being British, by definition, any intelligence relied on to spot-check them must have been wholly flawed”.



Prominent Glasgow human rights lawyer Aamer Anwar told TBIJ: “There is definitely racial profiling going on, and we’re increasingly concerned about the intelligence.”

In light of the findings, Walthamstow MP Stella Creasy, Manchester Gorton MP and shadow immigration minister Afzal Khan, Hampstead and Kilburn MP Tulip Siddiq and Bristol West MP Thangam Debbonaire told TBIJ they would call on the Home Office to review its procedures.

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“These statistics reveal a system which seems arbitrary, unsophisticated and possibly discriminatory to British citizens simply trying to go about their day,” Siddiq said. “I hope the Home Office will reflect on these figures and consider whether their current approach is fit for the challenges they are seeking to address.”

It is not the first time that immigration enforcement has been accused of racial profiling. In 2013, the Equality and Human Rights Commission wrote to the Home Office after human rights campaigners and politicians raised concerns that immigration officers were using racial profiling techniques at public transport hubs.

Jeremy Corbyn – then a backbencher – raised the issue in parliament, saying that he had witnessed such stops at tube stations in London. In response, the then immigration minister, Mark Harper, insisted “we do not stop people at random; we are not empowered to do so by law”. He added: “We stop people when we think there is intelligence to indicate that they are breaking our immigration laws.”

Responding to the release of the new figures, the Home Office said: “Immigration enforcement officers are empowered to carry out an in-country examination of a person to establish their immigration status where they reasonably suspect that the person is in breach of immigration law.

“British citizens may be arrested for connected criminal offences arising from an immigration enforcement encounter. British citizens are not arrested with a view to removal.”

