Arrests of illegal workers in the UK have “skyrocketed” by 63 per cent as the Labour government targets takeaways, fast-food drivers, beauty salons, and car washes.
In a press release on Tuesday, October 28th, the UK Home Office announced the largest increase in arrests of illegal workers in British history. In 11,000 raids, more than 8,000 illegal workers were arrested from October 2024 to September 2025. Of those arrested, over 1,000 foreign nationals were deported. The Home Office attributes this rise to the targeting of cash-based service jobs and easy-entry employment, such as Uber Eats and Just Eat.
In the press release, the Home Secretary stated: “Those found to be illegally working in beauty salons, car washes, and as delivery drivers will be arrested, detained, and removed from this country.” She added that she will “do whatever it takes to secure Britain’s borders”.
Further measures are being introduced, including mandatory Digital-ID verification for online delivery work to “attack every aspect of smuggling gangs’ business model” and “make it harder for illegal migrants to find work.” The Home Office believes this is a “lure”—that “illegal working is what gangs use to sell spaces on small boats”.
The UK government is also working closely with Deliveroo, Just Eat, and Uber Eats to share data specifically on asylum seekers working without permission in the UK.
According to Statista, government approval ratings have dropped by 52 per cent since Labour won the election in July 2024. Immigration is now polled as the number one issue, with almost half of the country viewing it as a concern. Two weeks ago, it reached its highest level of public concern in over a decade.
This has prompted the current government to take strong actions against Immigration, notably, in the last twelve months they have rejected double the amount of work visas as the previous government, they ended all overseas recruitment for care workers – despite there being an estimated 131,000 vacancies in 2025 – and making it a requirement for all employers including in previously excluded gig, casual, subcontracted, and temporary worker industries to verify workers’ identities or “be jailed for up to five years, face fines of £60,000 per illegal worker and have their businesses closed.”
Recently, the UK government passed another restrictive law requiring migrants to pass an A-level-equivalent English exam. In a separate press release from the Home Secretary’s office, it was stated that the decision was taken “in response to a high number of Botswana nationals arriving since 2022 as visitors and subsequently claiming asylum.” Migrants would be required to have a higher English qualification than 49 per cent of English and Welsh residents, according to the latest census on qualification levels.
