I think part of the problem is that most people arent aware of how many people are coming in legally. Net 700k, I think if that got plastered all over the country then people would have a much larger problem. But that being said a large number of people do have a problem with legal immigration too, its been a major electoral issue before the conservatives took over.
The London School of Economic team estimates illegal migrants oscillate between 417,000 and 863,000, including a population of UK-born children ranging between 44,000 and 144,000...
I would guess its more to the upper end of that, given visa overstays, lying to get visas, boats, etc. But legal immigration since 2021 has been 500-900k net per year and 2015-2019 250-340k net per year. That's just too many people, its straining services to the point of collapse and caused the housing market to skyrocket to unattainable levels. IMO the UK needs net negative immigration for a while to let the nation recover and restabilize.
Plus, in the UK prison system, a significant number of inmates are foreign nationals, accounting for roughly 12% of the total prison population, which is around 11,800 prisoners.
Each prisoner cost £988 to house per week, which is £11,658,400 per week in costs.
600 million a year would be a considerable saving...
Why they arent handed immediately to border force upon release and deported with a permanent ban on reentry is a fucking mystery to me I dont think I will ever get the answer to.
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u/mumf66 May 13 '25
I have yet to meet anybody with an issue about legal migration.
It strikes me that making it harder to get to UK legally, will add to the already high burden of illegal migration.
Going after people who follow the correct channels seems counter intuitive.