Kemi Badenoch, UK Conservative leader announces sweeping border reforms to detain and deport illegal migrants under a new Radical Borders Plan (RBP).
UK Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has announced a sweeping overhaul of Britain’s immigration system, unveiling what she called the “toughest reforms in British history” aimed at detaining and deporting 150,000 illegal migrants each year.
In a video statement posted Sunday on her X account, Badenoch introduced the Radical Borders Plan (RBP), pledging to establish a powerful new enforcement body called the Removals Force, modeled after the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“My message is clear: if you’re here illegally, you will be detained and deported,” she declared.
Badenoch, who has built her political profile on a hardline stance against illegal migration, accused both Conservative and Labor administrations of failing to secure Britain’s borders. She said years of weak leadership had allowed record numbers of small-boat crossings and ballooning asylum costs.
“Successive governments have failed on immigration,” Badenoch said. “Labor promised to smash the gangs. Instead, in just one year, they delivered record small-boat crossings, over 50,000 illegal arrivals, 32,000 people in asylum hotels, and billions wasted. Britain needs a serious, credible plan and the backbone to deliver it.”
Under the proposed reforms, asylum claims from illegal entrants would be automatically rejected, the Human Rights Act repealed, and the United Kingdom would withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
The Removals Force, will replace the Home Office Immigration Enforcement unit and be granted expanded powers, including the use of facial recognition technology without prior notice to identify and deport undocumented migrants.
Badenoch said the agency would “shut down the asylum hotel racket,” reduce taxpayer costs, and restore public confidence in the nation’s borders. “Only the Conservatives have a serious, credible plan to deliver stronger borders,” she asserted.
However, Badenoch faced criticism, where she dismissed questions about the destinations of deported migrants. “They will go back to where they should be or another country, but they should not be here,” she said. When pressed, she added bluntly: “They will go back to where they came from.”
If approved, the Radical Borders Plan would represent one of the most far-reaching shifts in UK immigration policy in decades — setting the stage for fierce debate over border control, human rights, and Britain’s global standing.
