Immigration news

A campaign website set up by the Home Office has been described as ‘deceiving’ and ‘misleading’ by the Immigration Advice Service (IAS). Migrantsonthemove.org, which was launched by the Home Office as an unattributed organisation named ‘On The Move’, claims to offer migrants in transit ‘free, reliable and important information’. 

 

Israel’s envoy to the US, Gilad Erdan, has said that he ‘expects there to be progress’ on a US visa waiver deal for the Jewish state after meeting with US Department of Homeland Security Secretary (DHS), Alejandro Mayorkas. In a post on Facebook, Erdan said: “It’s time for the citizens of Israel to feel our close relationship with the US when they want to visit.”

 

The UK government’s HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) department has shared the tax details of nearly 500,000 migrants with UK immigration authorities at the Home Office, according to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request submitted by the Migrants’ Right Network (MRN).

 

HMRC shared the details for UK immigration enforcement purposes. However, migrant rights’ groups claim that new government proposals to digitise the so-called ‘hostile environment’ seek to broaden such data sharing powers even further.

According to widespread reports, almost a quarter of a million migrants were stopped at the US-Mexico border in July in what has been described as an ‘unprecedented’ US immigration surge. Official figures show that 212,000 migrants were blocked form entering the US by Customs and Border Protection last month, representing a 12.6% increase compared to June.

 

The Labour Party has urged the Conservative government to relax UK immigration rules amid a growing shortage of lorry drivers. The Home Office is under increasing pressure to ease UK immigration restrictions as haulage industry leaders warn that the driver shortage is ‘getting worse’. 

 

Labour ministers recently called on the government to ‘let overseas workers help make up the shortfall in HGV drivers’. Shadow minister, Kerry McCarthy, told PoliticsHome: “We need action now.”

In a landmark move, US immigrants can now access green cards and Social Security numbers at the same time. The Biden administration recently announced a partnership between United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the Social Security Administration (SSA) that will allow all lawful immigrants to apply for US permanent residency or green cards, plus their Social Security number (SSN).