Brexit: British Secretary of State for Immigration threatens illegal EU citizens with expulsion

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British Secretary of State Kevin Foster

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Martyn Wheatley / i-Images / imago images / i Images

For EU citizens who want to live permanently in the UK after Brexit, there is a deadline that nobody knows exactly when it will end. Up to 5.5 million residence permits had already been issued by the summer deadline; according to the British media, around 400,000 applications were still pending processing at the end of August. "Those who missed the deadline for valid reasons can still apply," said British Secretary of State for Immigration, Kevin Foster, in an interview with the Italian newspaper "La Repubblica". "We've put security in place to protect those who haven't yet applied but may still be eligible, which means anyone can get the status they deserve."

That sounds conciliatory, but in the interview published on Saturday, Foster also made clear statements to everyone who did not face the procedure: Anyone who still stayed in the UK would be there illegally, he said.

"We expect people to leave the country voluntarily, but if they don't, the immigration service will try to enforce their departure," said Foster.

"The public rightly expects us to remove those who have no right to be in the UK."

Are the visa relaxations coming?

Ending freedom of movement within Europe was a key Brexit promise made by Prime Minister Boris Johnson. EU citizens who lived in the country before Britain left the EU customs union and internal market on January 1, 2021, could apply for a new residence status until the end of June 2021, which would give them access to the health system, the labor market and social benefits even after Brexit should secure.

British jobs for British, that was also a promise from Johnson, but massive delivery problems with gasoline and food are now forcing the government to make an abrupt U-turn.

According to reports in the British media on Saturday, Johnson is apparently planning to use exemptions to bring thousands of foreign truck drivers into the country to cope with the acute crisis.

The strict Brexit visa regulations are currently making the immigration of skilled workers more difficult, so that the logistics industry has come under even greater pressure.

"Boris is completely fed up with the bad headlines"

Most recently, it became known that some energy companies were unable to supply dozens of gas stations. Sometimes long queues formed at the petrol pumps. Pictures that should have led Johnson to rethink, as it is said in British newspapers. "Boris is completely fed up with the bad headlines and wants it to be resolved, he no longer cares about visa rules," the Financial Times quoted from Johnson's close circle.

However, the industry association CBI warned the government against believing that the crisis could be solved with the help of a few thousand foreign drivers, especially as numerous industries complain of a shortage of skilled workers.

“We don't have trained butchers, we don't have trained welders, we don't have cooks, we don't have electrical engineers, so there is a labor shortage in the entire economy,” CBI boss Tony Danker told the BBC.

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The government, however, is demanding that companies hire and train more British workers and pay higher wages. Danker admitted necessary reforms, but criticized the government for its approach. "You can't turn bag handlers into butchers or shopkeepers into cooks overnight," he said.

There should be an upper limit for visa exceptions, which, according to information from Sky News, could be 5000. A government spokesman emphasized that any regulation would be "very strictly limited." This is not the only reason why experts warn that foreign skilled workers may not find the planned regulation attractive at all. Because they would have to fear that they would be sent out of the country again after a few months. Since numerous truck drivers are also wanted in the EU, workers could prefer a secure job in the international community.

In an interview with La Repubblica, Johnson's Immigration State Secretary Foster sees no reason to relax the visa rules in order to allow urgently needed specialists back into the country: the new British immigration system is not the cause of the many vacancies, the conservative politician claimed.

The EU states are currently desperately looking for employees in logistics or catering, which, according to Foster, proves that Brexit is not the cause of the problem.

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