The Border Force, and Immigration Enforcement (IE: better known as ‘ICE’ – Immigration Compliance & Enforcement – with some 19 ICE teams across the UK) agencies cover respectively:
- At the frontiers (airports and seaports) passport and visa check and on the spot being taken for interview/interrogation and temporary detention services (Border Force)
- In-country anti-illegal immigration operations as well as asylum check ins (IE / ICE) that lead to sequences of illegal and not uncommonly genuine asylum and leave to remain applicants (often going through Home Office & Immigration Tribunal appeal processes) being taken into detention/deportation centres
In 2013 the then Home Secretary, Theresa May, accepted direction/guidance from Hostile Environment strategic implementers in the Whitehall upper echelons of the UK civil service, that the UK Border Agency should be disbanded. Its functions to be subsequently covered by two new agencies, Border Force, and [directly through the Home Office, which now added this as a further, new Home Office agency] Immigration Enforcement – both entities powers were considerable, and at operational level through revelations about the on-the ground activity of their personnel’s forms of conduct, illustrated that those powers were clearly greater than the preceding UKBA.
The names of the two new agencies were particularly Hostile Environment operational level intimidatory power assertive and unambiguous, supportive. The Whitehall civil servants provided names to their Westminster/Government Hostile Environment implementing’ elected politician & Cabinet minister support, Theresa May, for her approval (readily given), regarding the two new agencies: the one used the word ‘force’ and the other ‘enforcement.’ These terms were appropriate and not accidental in terms of their activities and revealed ethos, in which bullying has been on sadly too often revealed.
Below we provide hyperlinks to UK government / .gov.uk webpages, which detail what the two agencies are and the authorised official remits that they carry out. These webpages have key issues/topics essential to know information provision gaps, as many of those who have experienced at frontline direct personal level engagement with Border ‘Force’ and Immigration ‘Enforcement’ personnel will and often do, testify.
Both agencies state (online and in statements in response to abuses and powers incidents, revealed at community and news media levels) quality assurance standards of the highest kinds that their personnel are required to follow.
These are seen by independent researchers and investigative journalists [from sections of the news media more ready to challenge Whitehall and government ministers’ statements on the Hostile Environment being humane and carried out fairly and professionally] and of course many using Border Force and IE services, as vacuous and disingenuous.
As just one evidence of the conclusion above, it is clear that ‘.gov.uk’ website information on such agencies as ‘Border Force’ and UK ‘Immigration Enforcement’ does by accident or design, choose not to include key facts.
There are 19 immigration compliance and enforcement teams across the country. They work with the public and alongside police, HM Revenue & Customs, local authorities and other local partners. Their purpose is to ensure compliance with immigration laws for the benefit of the community and the economy, and to enforce immigration law (including tracking down illegal migrants and targeting companies that flout the rules by employing workers illegally).
Completely lacking from the above is the fact that the asylum check-in locations, found in police stations across the country, those manning those check-in points in those police stations are IE personnel, rather than police officers: a significant omission.
Operational on-the-ground level details of activities are commonly lacking on such .gov.uk webpages, this is deliberate and made in order to present such agencies as professional and human rights and accountability respecting, whilst keeping away from the type of detail that contradicts the latter at operational delivery level. For reference ‘custody suites’ in police stations across the UK can’t be used while occupied by IE ‘ICE Team’ officers.
More about Immigration Enforcement:
Immigration Enforcement (IE) is a division of the Home Office responsible for enforcing immigration law in the United Kingdom. It was established from the section of the former UK Border Agency (UKBA) responsible for enforcing immigration law.
IE is responsible under the Hostile Environment for many controversial actions across the asylum check in (see Asylum section of this website) to taking in to detention, to detention centre, to deportation, spectrum. IE works closely with police constabularies, the Immigration Tribunal (often IE are informed about a case before the person going for an asylum check in knows, or receives/doesn’t receive the decision paper) and with HMRC (they often conduct operations with the latter).
IE definitely will have an ‘operating mandate’ document unless this comes under the Border Agency one. IE officers remits in regard to deportations are, characteristically for the Hostile Environment ‘blurred’ where actual deportations (detention centre to plane) forced or conventional, are concerned in terms of interaction with private sector sub-contractors who do the actual bundling on to planes, binding and securing operations (we include information on how this works in the deportation information section of this book.
Below is provided some UK Government / .gov.uk information about IE, in their own words: understandably it does NOT include any information on the activities they involve regularly in, detailed above. It is on a related topic, valuable to also read the detention centres information section of this book as it gives further information about IE performance, and IE officers conduct and approach to human rights, safety, and process.
Immigration Enforcement & Compliance Teams:
There are 19 immigration compliance and enforcement teams across the country. They work with the public and alongside police, HM Revenue & Customs, local authorities and other local partners. Their purpose is to ensure compliance with immigration laws for the benefit of the community and the economy, and to enforce immigration law (including tracking down illegal migrants and targeting companies that flout the rules by employing workers illegally).
Each immigration compliance and enforcement team has a leader, who is the local point of contact for any query. The team works with the community, developing the local knowledge needed to tackle the area’s specific needs and to understand and address migration’s local impact.
Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Immigration Enforcement (IE) is a division of the Home Office responsible for enforcing immigration law in the United Kingdom. It was established from the section of the former UK Border Agency (UKBA) responsible for enforcing immigration law. Superseding agency: UK Border Agency
The ranks of organisation
Uniformed Immigration Officers have their rank displayed on shoulder epaulettes, attached to their wicking shirt, jumper, jacket and stab vest. Officers below HM Inspector rank will usually have their warrant / identification number displayed.
The rank structure adopted within Home Office Immigration Enforcement is as follows:
Administrative Assistant (unwarranted)
Assistant Immigration Officer
Immigration Officer
Chief Immigration Officer
Her Majesty’s Inspector
Assistant Director
Deputy Director
Director
Senior Director
Director General
History
Former Home Secretary Theresa May announced the abolition of the UK Border Agency on 26 March 2013, with the intention that its work would be returned to the Home Office.[1] The agency’s executive agency status was removed and internally it was split, with one division responsible for the visa system and the other for immigration enforcement.[2][3]
Role
Immigration Enforcement is responsible for enforcing the United Kingdom’s immigration laws by conducting “visits” to residential and business premises. These visits can often be conducted with a court-issued warrant, in which forced entry may be used if necessary, in order to apprehend immigration offenders. Immigration Officers (IOs) [also referred to as Immigration Enforcement Officers] have a number of powers which allow them to carry out such enforcement work. Whilst on a visit, IOs will question encountered individuals about their immigration status and will arrest anyone found to be in breach of immigration law.
Arrest IOs, for the most part, will not deal with immigration offences as “criminal matters” (seeking to prosecute), unless they are apart of a crime team (see Criminal & Financial Investigation section for more). In the vast majority of cases, a person who has been arrested will be served paperwork notifying them of their imminent removal from the United Kingdom, without any court involvement. This is known as “Administrative Removal” and should not be confused with “Deportation.”
Departments
Immigration Enforcement has a number of internal departments, including Criminal & Financial Investigation (CFI) which is a non-uniformed, investigatory unit much like the Criminal Investigation Department within territorial police forces, responsible for investigating criminality surrounding immigration, such as the production of false documents, etc.
IE also has its own Intelligence Department, which is responsible for gathering and disseminating information, as well as other functions*. Immigration Enforcement has signed up to the Professionalising Investigations Programme (PIP).
The organisation works very closely with other government bodies including police, National Crime Agency, Border Force, UK Visas and Immigration, the National Document Fraud Unit and many more. IE will often work collaboratively with local councils and transport authorities in order to carry out targeted operation
Comment: * the wording is nebulous re gathering and disseminating, and other functions. It is clear that the main intelligence gathering entities, MI5 etc. as well as police intelligence interconnect substantially with this section of IE (as detailed in this information resource’s Crown Prosecution Service section, it appears that when enquiry is made that the CPS for example takes as red that deaths in UK deportation centres are matters that are covered by the State under counter-terrorism remits, and therefore in the domain of extreme non-transparency (to put politely).
This is of course understandable where counter terrorism and crime prevention are concerned; unfortunately though it appears from information regularly emerging into the public domain, that both of the above mentioned intelligence gathering entities in a degree of alarming non-transparency, involve in broader immigration surveillance activity beyond crime and terorism prevention, as not a few UK immigration services service users discover to their understandable consternation.