UK Judge Compares Britain's Borders to 'Leaking Sieve'

LONDON, United Kingdom — A British Crown Court judge has compared Britain’s borders to a “leaking sieve” in a stark warning over a continuing immigration crisis in Britain.

Judge Richard Bray spoke following the case of Baksim Bushati, an Albanian drug dealer who was deported three times, only to return after each occasion. Bushati, 37, was jailed for seven years after being found with 1kg of cocaine and £14,000 in his home.

Speaking at Northampton Crown Court, Judge Bray commented on the dire border protections in place in Britain, stating:

These things make a classic study for people who want to see if the Home Office and the Border Agency are doing their jobs properly. It just shows how powerless they appear to be. They are hopelessly undermanned and that is what has caused this situation. It is our duty to point this out so the public are aware of it. As I have been saying for the last 10 years, it is a very serious problem which is simply not being dealt with. Our defences to illegal immigrants are leaking like a sieve. I can only hope you will be successfully deported on this occasion.

Judge Bray’s statements follow closely on the back of a renewed immigration debate in Britain, which has seen even long-standing proponents of free movement across Europe coming to terms with over a decade of mistakes. 

Speaking on the subject of legal immigration, Labour’s former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw admitted last month that British authorities had underestimated the numbers that would flood into Britain by a factor of ten.

When asked about their voting priorities last month, Britons overwhelmingly asserted that immigration is as serious a concern as the state of the economy. An Ipsos MORI poll found that 41 percent of people questioned raised immigration or race relations in answer to the question: “What do you see as the most important issues facing Britain today?” This is the same number as mentioned the economy.

Sir Andrew Green, chairman of the MigrationWatch think-tank, said, “This is a most remarkable outcome. At last people feel free to give their true opinion about the impact of mass immigration on this country.”

Bushati, whose situation elicited the comments from Judge Bray, was first jailed in the UK for three-and-a-half years in 2005, before being deported back to Albania on his release from prison. He managed to sneak back into Britain, and in September 2010, he was sent to prison for 54 weeks for possession of false identification documents.

He was deported again, but just a few weeks later, he smuggled himself back into Britain.