UK Tories Plan £1.6bn ICE-Style Force to Deport 150,000 Illegal Immigrants Annually

The UK Conservative Party, led by Kemi Badenoch, has proposed creating a new "Removals Force" modeled on the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency to deport 150,000 people annually as part of a broad strategy to combat illegal immigration. This force would receive £1.6 billion in funding, significantly increasing current budgets, and be granted sweeping powers, including the use of facial recognition technology without warning and close integration with police who would conduct immigration checks on all individuals they stop or arrest. The plan forms a central part of the Conservatives' "Borders Plan" announced during their annual conference, where immigration is a key theme amid record Channel crossings in 2025. Alongside the removals force, the party intends to overhaul the asylum system to restrict refugee status only to those threatened by foreign governments, excluding those fleeing conflict or laws on religion or sexuality. However, the ICE model has faced criticism for alleged racial targeting and arrests of legal migrants and citizens, and the increased use of surveillance technology raises privacy concerns. The Conservatives also plan to repeal the Human Rights Act and leave various international human rights agreements to support these measures.