Petition Close the borders! Suspend ALL immigration for 5 years!

Government responded

This response was given on 17 January 2025

The Government is taking the tough action required to reduce both illegal immigration and overall net migration, without the economic damage that would come from suspending immigration entirely.

In his Downing Street speech on 28 November last year, the Prime Minister made clear that net migration - which rose to a record high of more than 900,000 in the year ending June 2023 – must come down. It had been allowed to grow out of control in recent years, driven largely by overseas recruitment. The Prime Minister and Home Secretary have also repeatedly made clear their intention to reduce illegal immigration by dismantling the criminal smuggling gangs behind the trafficking of migrants across the Channel, by cracking down on illegal working within the UK, and by increasing the removal and returns of people with no right to be in this country.

On net migration, we are committed to bring down numbers through the continuation of tough measures on visas alongside the introduction of new employment legislation, ensuring that the visa and employment systems are strongly aligned. We will do this by making sure that workers in this country receive the skills training they need to fill vacancies in key sectors, so that overseas recruitment does not remain the default for filling those shortages. The independent Migration Advisory Committee has been commissioned to review key sectors, and the long-term plan we will set out in our Immigration White Paper will see departments working across government, partnering with experts to build our skills base and reducing reliance on overseas labour.

Alongside this action to tackle the root causes behind the UK’s historically high levels of net migration, we will continue to:

• Restrict most overseas students from bringing family members to the UK;
• Restrict the ability of care workers to bring dependants with them and require all care providers sponsoring migrants to register with the Care Quality Commission;
• Increase the general salary threshold for those arriving on Skilled Worker visas from £26,200 to £38,700; and
• Abolish the 20% going rate discount so that employers can no longer pay migrants less than UK workers in shortage occupations.

We have also set out our plans to tackle the criminal smuggling gangs making millions out of small boat crossings, undermining our border security and putting lives at risk. We have introduced the Border Security Command (BSC) to focus on targeting and dismantling this vile trade. The BSC has been backed by £150 million of investment this year and next for investment in new investigators and new technology, and - in partnership with key organisations like the National Crime Agency - it has already overseen significant enforcement action against criminal gangs, in partnership with overseas agencies. The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill will be introduced this year to further strengthen the BSC’s ability to coordinate the UK’s response to all aspects of organised immigration crime, and provide the UK's investigators with stronger powers to go after the smuggling gangs.

The Prime Minister and Home Secretary have also led the drive for stronger international cooperation in the fight against Organised Immigration Crime, ranging from agreements with the German authorities to target warehouses in Germany storing dinghies destined for use in the Channel, to joint cooperation agreements with the Iraqi and Kurdish authorities to disrupt smuggling gangs and supply chains operating through that region. We have already begun delivering a major surge in immigration enforcement and returns activity to remove people with no right to be in the UK and ensure the rules are both respected and enforced, with 16,400 people returned from 5 July 2024 to 4 January 2025. In the year ending September 2024, asylum-related returns were around a fifth lower than they were compared to 2010. By the end of 2025, it is our ambition to return to 2010 levels of asylum-related returns. We are also continuing to crack down on visa abuse by unscrupulous employers, and the hiring of illegal workers, with major increases in raids and arrests targeted at illegal working.

We are determined to increase momentum in all the areas set out above to deliver our twin goals to reduce both net migration and illegal immigration. However, we believe it would be harmful to the UK economy to go further, in the way suggested by the petitioners, through suspending all legal migration into the UK. We continue to welcome business investment and talent from around the world, and we value the contribution that controlled migration plays in supporting many sectors of our economy, including our essential public services. By taking the action set out above, and restoring confidence in our immigration controls, we believe we can address many of the concerns which have led to this petition, without damaging our economy and public services by suspending immigration entirely.

Home Office