National Crime Agency (NCA)’s Post

Labour Party want to creat a super task force to tackle illegal immigration crime gangs. Starmer is a former CPS head who should have some idea on this subject, but clearly not. This is from the NCA website. “ The transnational nature of organised immigration crime makes international collaboration essential. Tackling people-smuggling at every stage of the journey – from source, to transit, to destination country - is necessary to stop the flow of illegal entry into the UK. We lead a UK taskforce targeting the organised crime group threat to Europe through the Mediterranean region and the UK. Project INVIGOR includes UK partners such as Immigration Enforcement, Border Force, police and the Crown Prosecution Service. The taskforce is active in source and transit countries, developing intelligence and building international capability to combat the threat. We are also working closely with partners across Europe and within the UK to share intelligence and resources to disrupt people-smuggling networks across the continent.

If you think of immigration detention as a way station on the road to deportation, I think this report will surprise you: at the height of Trump’s surge in locking up immigrants, 84% of them ended up being released back into the U.S. We need to be a lot more targeted and strategic about the role of immigration detention and stop pouring endless billions of dollars into it. Imagine how else that money could be spent to improve how the system functions, like hiring hundreds more immigration judges and asylum officers to tackle the millions of backlogged cases.

The #CoE_CPT has today published its report on #immigrationdetention in #Greece from late 2023. It does not make for happy reading. There are many very dedicated professionals in Greece working hard to provide support to foreign nationals arriving in the country. However, the systems continue to be deficient to guarantee that persons, especially those in a vulnerable situation, are treated decently while in detention. The CPT has been urging the Greek authorities for many years to improve the way in which persons held in immigration detention are treated. The #pre_removal_detention_centres, in which persons are detained from 6 to 18 months continue to offer generally poor conditions with a lack of purposeful activities and inadequate healthcare. Certain Hellenic Police facilities such as the Special Holding area at Athens airport and Drapetzona Police Station were holding persons in conditions that could only be decribed as inhuman and degrading treatment. The CPT is also critical of the new #Closed_Controlled_Access_Centres, the EU-funded reception centres. Vulnerable persons were not being properly identified and cared for. The mulitle perimeter fences with barbed wire that surround each accommodation section in the centres is deemed exceesive by the Committee. At the time of the visit, due to an increase in arrivals, the significant shotcomings in healthcare provision, legal advice, vulnerability assessments were further exposed. The system broke down, living conditions deteriorated and persons held in the CCACs, notbaly those in Kos and Samos, were subjected to treatment which could be described as inhuman and degrading. The third area examined by the CPT concerns informal forcible removals at borders – better known as “#pushbacks”. The CPT again highlights that it received numerous detailed allegations of pushback operations both across the land border with Türkiye in the Evros region and at sea. The CPT once again calls upon teh Greek authorities to ensure that such practices cease. https://lnkd.in/e2eQ6vqi

BIDEN’S FAUX BORDER CRACKDOWN Amber Duke I DC Diary I 7 June 2024 President Joe Biden announced an executive order this week that he claims will “help us to gain control of our border, restore order to the process” by banning migrants from seeking asylum if they cross the border illegally. At first glance, this seems like a welcome move to reduce a major pull factor for illegal crossings, even if it flies in the face of Biden’s claim in January that he had “done all I can do” on the border. As always, though, the devil is in the details. First, the limitations on asylum seekers only kick in once illegal crossings exceed 2,500 per day, which is nearly one million per year. As Ammon Blair, a senior fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation told me, Biden is going to “meter the invasion.” As you read further, the executive order contains all kinds of loopholes that render it effectively useless, even during the emergency scenario. Unaccompanied minors are exempt from the restrictions on asylum, so families will be incentivized to send their children into the United States alone and they will be trafficked across the border. Cartels will also take advantage of the unaccompanied minor exemption by telling illegal migrants to ditch their documents before they get to the border or by creating false documents that state migrants are under the age of eighteen. Illegal aliens may also claim asylum between ports of entry if they are victims of “severe trafficking,” which is defined as being induced by force, fraud or coercion into providing sexual acts or labour services. As the cartel has effective control of the southern border, this applies to practically every single person who crosses into the United States illegally. Women pay for safe passage with sex, while men pay with labour. “Nobody crosses without paying the cartels,” senior border patrol agent John Modlin testified to Congress in 2023. The order prohibits border patrol agents from asking credible fear questions to illegal crossers, but these individuals may still invoke an asylum claim to avoid or get temporary relief from expedited removal. Conveniently, detention centres that house candidates for expedited removal must contain signage explaining to these detainees how to “claim a fear of return or an intention to seek asylum or related protection.”  Finally, the DHS secretary may override the asylum restrictions laid out because the memo specifies that he can allow any illegal to enter for “humanitarian” reasons. This is all not withstanding the fact that asylum restrictions have nothing to do with the 30,000 people per month let in via Biden’s parole program, nor the thousands weekly who enter the US through the CBP One app program, which merely gives migrants a later date for an asylum screening and gives them the opportunity to get a work permit. Author - Amber Duke

In some of the conferences and meetings I have recently attended on the #EUMigrationPact implementation, I heard policy makers reassuring the civil society that any detention used in the framework of the Pact will not be 'penitentiary', that we should not think of it as 'hard core detention' and that of course people will have dignified conditions and access to all their rights. Now, honestly I don't even know what one might mean with 'not penitentiary'... sure, detention for the purpose of migration procedures is administrative legally speaking, but based on the detention centres I have seen with my eyes, not different from any detention in prisons. In any case, I urge policy makers to read this report just published by #CoE_CPT , so they can possibly understand why it is really hard for the civil society to be optimistic about anything in the Pact that includes (de facto) detention.

🚨 BREAKING NEWS 🚨 I am thrilled to share a significant development in our ongoing battle against organised immigration crime. Today, the National Crime Agency, alongside Hampshire Police, executed a successful operation resulting in the arrest of a 45-year-old man suspected of orchestrating a Kurdish people smuggling network in Portsmouth. The arrest, conducted in the Kingston area, signifies a major breakthrough in our efforts to combat illegal immigration and money laundering. This individual is believed to have wielded control over a vast network of smugglers spanning northern Europe and the Middle East. Our investigation suggests that this criminal enterprise may have facilitated the unlawful entry of hundreds of individuals into the UK, with each victim subjected to exorbitant fees. The methods employed by this network posed grave risks to the lives and safety of those being trafficked. This arrest underscores the unwavering dedication of law enforcement agencies in tackling organised immigration crime. We are resolute in our commitment to dismantling such networks and safeguarding our borders. As our investigation progresses, we remain vigilant and steadfast in our pursuit of justice. Together, we will continue to uphold the integrity of our immigration system and protect vulnerable individuals from exploitation. Stay tuned for further updates. #NCA #ImmigrationCrime #BorderSecurity #LawEnforcement https://lnkd.in/eXTxsW2z

The Department of Homeland Security has started its deportation flights to China again. This move, not seen since 2018, signals a renewed era of cooperation between the United States and the People's Republic of China on immigration enforcement. The #Chinesenationalsdeportation #DHSremovalflight #ICEdeportationoperations #illegalbordercrossings #immigrationenforcementcooperation #internationalrepatriationflights #irregularmigrationdeterrence #MayorkasChinapolicy #smugglingnetworkdisruption #thxnews

Migrants would not be able to just cross the border illegally under the new bill. It would end the practice of "catch and release," in which Border Patrol agents release migrants into the U.S. while they await immigration hearings. Click here for the full story from NBC News: https://lnkd.in/gTRbTiWU #RationalMiddleImmigration #USMexicoBorder #BorderPatrol #MigantIssues #AsylumSeekers #StoneyCreekPublishing #ImmigrationReform #BorderSecurity #MigrantCrisis #AsylumProcess #BorderPolicy #ImmigrationDebate #BorderControl #MigrantRights #ImmigrationLegislation #BorderEnforcement #NBCNews #JulieTsirkin

Cyber scoop How a private company helps ICE track migrants’ every move: Immigration and Customs Enforcement's claims about how long surveillance data is retained conflicts with internal records. The post How a private company helps ICE track migrants’ every move appeared first on CyberScoop. Check it out!

Earlier this month University of Oxford Border Criminologies blog kindly let me write about and collate evidence on the psychological harm done by the UK’s immigration detention estate. It isn’t an easy topic, or often talked about, but given this week’s FOI evidencing an average of one instance of self-harm a day in immigration detention, it is important that people have the opportunity to learn about what hostile policy does to human beings. https://lnkd.in/e3beWJdS #blog #bordercriminologies #oxfordlaw #immigrationlaw