The UK government has announced new immigration rules that will make it nearly impossible for undocumented migrants arriving in small boats or hidden in vehicles to become British citizens.
According to the new guidance, migrants who enter the UK illegally will usually be refused citizenship.
A spokesperson for the Home Office said the rules are now stricter to ensure that those arriving unlawfully, including by boat, will have their citizenship applications rejected.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour government is facing pressure to reduce migration, especially after the anti-immigration Reform UK party, led by Nigel Farage, gained about four million votes in the last general election.
However, some Labour politicians have criticized the decision. Lawmaker Stella Creasy said on social media that denying citizenship to recognized refugees would leave them as “second-class” residents.
Free Movement, an immigration law blog, also condemned the policy, calling it “harmful to integration.”
The announcement comes as MPs debate a new Border Security, Asylum, and Immigration Bill. The bill aims to give law enforcement stronger powers to stop gangs that bring migrants across the Channel.
Starmer has already canceled former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s plan to send undocumented migrants to Rwanda. Instead, he promised to dismantle smuggling gangs to reduce migration.
Official figures show that 36,816 people crossed the Channel from France to England in 2024, a 25% rise compared to 2023.
