The Government believes that immigration has enriched our culture and strengthened our economy. But the unlimited migration we saw under Labour placed unacceptable pressure on public services. We are taking action to tackle immigration, and it is our aim to reduce the level of net migration to sustainable levels down from the hundreds of thousands to the tens of thousands within the lifetime of this parliament.
- We have introduced the first ever cap on the number of non-EU economic migrants admitted into the UK to live and work.
- We have clamped down on abuses of the student visa route – the largest single immigration route and one which experienced widespread abuse.
- We are considering how to reform the family visa route and will soon take action to do so.
- We will end the link between temporary routes and permanent settlement.
- We have ended the detention of children for immigration purposes.
- We will create a dedicated Border Police Force, as part of the new National Crime Agency, to enhance national security, improve immigration controls and crack down on the trafficking of people, weapons and drugs.
- We support E-borders and will reintroduce exit checks.
- We will apply transitional controls as a matter of course in the future for all new EU Member States.
- We will tackle human trafficking as a priority, as well as forced marriage.
- We have cleared the backlog of over 450,000 asylum cases and will keep working to ensure a more balanced and more efficient system.
- We have stopped returning asylum seekers to countries where their sexual orientation or gender identification puts them at proven risk of torture, imprisonment or execution.