Windrush ‘has left migration officials too scared to act’

IMMIGRATION officials are scared to crack down on businesses using illegal workers in the wake of the Windrush scandal, a report warns.

It is thought that between 190,000 and 240,000 businesses employ staff who are here illegally. Many are restaurant chains or fast food outlets. Firms caught out in the past include Pizza Hut, Chez Gerard and Wimpy.

But a report by the immigration watchdog warns that last year’s Windrush affair has had a damaging effect. Only 256 fines were handed out to firms hiring illegal workers in 2018/19, a tenth of the 2,594 penalties issued in 2015/16.

Chief Inspector of Border and Immigration David Bolt said the scandal had an ‘operational’ and ‘psychological’ effect with enforcement officers more wary after the backlash to Windrush. He urged the Government to produce a new strategy on illegal working, adding there was ‘little clarity about the Home Office’s thinking or intentions’.

The Windrush scandal saw many children of West Indian parents wrongly labelled as illegal immigrants by the Home Office. Some lost their homes, jobs and benefits despite having paid taxes here for decades.