UK Deportations MAY Rise as Appeal Case Cap Lifted to Speed Up Removal Process

The first day of the trial of the Stansted 15 on March 19th 2018 in Chelmsford, United Kin
Kristian Buus/In Pictures via Getty Images Images
Kurt Zindulka

Deportations from the United Kingdom may actually begin to rise after Justice Secretary Dominic Raab lifted the artificial cap on the number of appeals as well as investing millions more to clear the growing backlog of undecided cases.

After years of increasingly dismal results in terms of deporting foreign criminals, failed asylum seekers, and illegal aliens, the number of removals may actually begin to rise.

This week, Justice Secretary Dominic Raab has told judges that there will be no more limit on the number of deportation appeals they can hear.

The move is expected to increase the number of completed appeals by around 9,000 over the next three months, in comparison to the current yearly total of around 8,000, The Telegraph reports.

The Justice Secretary also announced £8 million in new funding for tribunal hearings, including £5 million dedicated specifically for immigration cases.

“This investment will allow judges to hear many more cases across our immigration and asylum tribunals over the next three months,” Mr Raab claimed.

“It means decisions can be made more quickly, helping us tackle the backlog, ensure justice is served, and remove those who are not eligible.”

At present, the immigration system is bogged down with a record 117,400 pending asylum cases for 143,377 people, an increase of 74 per cent over last year. The government is hoping to set a standard of around six months to clear each case, rather than the current time length of around 480 days.

Last month, the Home Office admitted that it had deported just 3,250 illegal aliens and foreign criminals in the year leading up to June — a 55 per cent decline on the already dismal figure in the pre-coronavirus year of 2019.

In comparison, the British Commonwealth nation of Cyprus was able to deport nearly 7,000 people from its shores so far this year, more than doubling the United Kingdom’s yearly total.

Robert Jenrick, the British immigration minister, told GB News: “Faster decisions will enable us to speed up the removal of those with no right to be here, strengthen deterrence against those seeking to abuse our system and focus our efforts on those in genuine need.”

“This huge backlog built up over the pandemic for reasons that are hard to explain. I think it’s a combination of poor management and very low productivity in the Home Office. We’ve got to tackle that.”

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