Reform UK’s proposal to create a UK Deportation Command modelled on the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency has been condemned as “sadistic” by rights groups. Zia Yusuf, the party’s home affairs spokesperson, outlined plans for mass deportations, expanded surveillance, and a ban on converting churches into mosques at a press conference in Dover.
Yusuf described the number of migrants arriving in Britain as an “invasion” and said the proposed command would have capacity to detain 24,000 people and deport up to 288,000 annually using five flights a day. He argued that similar violent standoffs seen in the US would not occur in the UK because policing is done by consent and officers would not be armed.
The party also plans to scrap indefinite leave to remain, replacing it with a renewable five-year work visa and a dedicated spouse visa. Automatic home searches would be mandated for anyone referred to the Prevent counter-terrorism programme by three corroborating authorities. A “Polanski law” would criminalise assisting or encouraging illegal entry, punishable by up to two years in prison.
Migrants’ rights organisations reacted with anger. Dora-Olivia Vicol, chief executive of the Work Rights Centre, called the plan “sadistic”, while Natasha Tsangarides of Freedom from Torture described Yusuf’s speech as “grotesque”.
