Overview
- From Monday, officers at the Manston processing centre in Kent will take mobile phones and SIM cards from new arrivals and extract data on site without needing to make arrests.
- Expanded search powers allow officials to require removal of outer clothing such as coats or gloves and to inspect inside mouths for concealed SIM cards.
- The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act introduces new offences, including up to 14 years in prison for storing or supplying boat engines and up to five years for researching or facilitating crossings.
- Additional offences include penalties for creating hidden vehicle compartments used to smuggle people and for actions that endanger lives during crossings, with maximum sentences of up to six years.
- Border security leaders cite more than 4,000 disruptions against gangs since 2024, while lawyers and NGOs condemn the intrusiveness and flag the Home Office’s prior unlawful phone seizures and unclear independent oversight, against a backdrop of 41,472 Channel arrivals in 2025.