Overview
- Border Force, police and immigration officials began seizing phones and SIM cards from small-boat arrivals on Monday under the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act.
- Devices are being taken on arrival at the Manston processing centre in Kent, where on-site technology extracts data to support investigations into smuggling networks.
- Officials now have wider search powers, including ordering removal of outer clothing and inspecting mouths for hidden SIM cards, and can target devices during vehicle searches and property raids before arrest.
- The law introduces new offences with tougher sentences, including up to 14 years for storing or supplying boat engines and up to five years for researching or downloading material to facilitate illegal crossings.
- Charities and solicitors condemned the measures as intrusive and raised oversight concerns, while Conservative critics called them cosmetic as official figures show 41,472 Channel crossings in 2025.