The Reform UK party, led by Nigel Farage, has introduced a stringent new immigration agenda that includes plans to establish a British equivalent of the United States’ Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency. The announcement was made by the party’s home affairs spokesperson, Zia Yusuf, who himself was born in Scotland to migrant parents. Yusuf stated that if Reform UK were to come to power, the government would aim to deport as many as 2,88,000 migrants annually as part of a sweeping crackdown on illegal immigration.
According to multiple media reports, including coverage by UK outlets, the right-wing political party outlined its proposals during a speech delivered by Yusuf in Dover. The initiative forms a central part of Reform UK’s broader immigration strategy, which focuses heavily on enforcement and deportation measures. Reports in the Daily Mail indicated that a Reform-led administration would target the deportation of more than 6,00,000 individuals over the course of its first term in office, reflecting the party’s commitment to significantly reducing the number of undocumented migrants in the country.
During the announcement, Yusuf described the establishment of a new “UK Deportation Command” as an urgent priority that would play a key role in the party’s wider programme titled “Operation Restoring Justice.” Several media organisations, including Reuters and the Daily Mail, characterised the proposed body as a British counterpart to the US ICE agency. In the United States, ICE’s authority and operational capacity were notably expanded after President Donald Trump assumed office in January 2025, enabling what he described as the largest domestic deportation effort in American history.
Reform UK itself is a right-wing populist political organisation founded in 2018 under the name Brexit Party by Nigel Farage and Catherine Blaiklock. Its original objective was to advocate for a no-deal Brexit, referring to the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union following the 2016 referendum and subsequent negotiations that culminated in the UK leaving the bloc in 2020. Nigel Farage, widely identified as a Eurosceptic and populist political figure, has remained the party’s most recognisable leader and has served as its head since June 2024. He currently represents the parliamentary constituency of Clacton as a Member of Parliament.
The Brexit Party achieved significant success in the 2019 European Parliament elections, securing the highest share of votes before rebranding itself as Reform UK in 2021. Following the rebranding, the party expanded its political platform to address a wider range of domestic issues. Under Farage’s leadership, Reform UK has prioritised tougher immigration controls, proposed withdrawing from the European Convention on Human Rights, advocated large-scale deportations of illegal migrants, called for tax reductions, opposed net-zero climate policies, and proposed reforms to the National Health Service alongside a broader anti-establishment political message centred on what it describes as “common sense” governance. In the 2024 UK general election, the party secured 14.3% of the national vote, placing third overall, and won five parliamentary seats, a figure that has since risen to eight.
The party’s latest immigration proposals were formally introduced during a press conference in Dover attended by both Yusuf and Farage. In his first address as home affairs spokesperson, Yusuf outlined plans for the Deportation Command to detain approximately 24,000 illegal migrants at a time as part of Operation Restoring Justice. According to reports, the agency’s officers would be tasked with identifying, locating, detaining, and deporting undocumented migrants across the country. Those awaiting removal would reportedly be accommodated in modular housing facilities, while the government would operate up to five deportation flights daily to accelerate removals.
Reform UK estimates that implementing the programme would cost around two billion pounds each year. However, Yusuf argued that these expenses would be offset by reductions in government spending on migrant housing and welfare support. He also proposed restricting welfare benefits exclusively to British citizens, asserting that foreign nationals should no longer qualify for payments such as Universal Credit. Yusuf reiterated that the party expects deportations to exceed 6,00,000 individuals during its first term if elected, including an annual removal target of up to 2,88,000 people.
In addition to deportation measures, the party proposed imposing visa bans on six countries: Pakistan, Somalia, Eritrea, Afghanistan, Syria, and Sudan. Yusuf reportedly highlighted Pakistani nationals as having the highest rate of visa overstays. He defended the scale of the policy proposals by describing illegal immigration as a national security emergency, claiming that Britain faced an unprecedented level of unlawful entry. Drawing a historical comparison, he stated that roughly 2,00,000 migrants who arrived via small boats over the past eight years exceeded the number of Allied troops who landed in Normandy during the D-Day invasion of 1944, a pivotal World War II military operation involving British, American, and Canadian forces.
Yusuf also announced that a Reform-led government would seek to withdraw the United Kingdom from the European Convention on Human Rights, arguing that legal rulings have prevented deportations and placed the rights of offenders ahead of those of citizens. The party further intends to introduce an “Illegal Migration Mass Deportation Act,” designed to restrict judicial challenges that delay or block removals.
Additional policy proposals include replacing indefinite leave to remain with renewable five-year work visas, criminalising assistance that facilitates illegal entry regardless of intent, expanding police stop-and-search powers, and granting protected status to churches to prevent their conversion into other types of religious buildings. Yusuf also expressed support for banning all face coverings in public spaces, including the burqa.
The announcement prompted criticism from the ruling Labour Party. Labour chair Anna Turley accused Reform UK of promoting policies that risk deepening divisions within British society. She pointed out that the Labour government had already deported around 60,000 illegal migrants by November 2025, according to media reports.
The debate over immigration policy comes amid rising concerns across the United Kingdom and Europe regarding irregular migration. Data from the Oxford Migration Observatory indicates that approximately 41,500 people crossed the English Channel in small boats during 2025, representing a 13% increase compared with 2024 and marking the second-highest annual total recorded to date.
