Clause 8 - Immigration officer: power of arrest
Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Bill
3:45 pm
Ms Beverley Hughes (Minister of State (Citizenship and Immigration), Home Office; Stretford and Urmston, Labour)
I commend the hon. Gentleman on his attempts to ensure that there are no gaps in our consideration of the Bill and on his brevity. I hope that I can deal with the amendment equally briefly. The short answer to the question that the hon. Gentleman's amendments are designed to prompt is that the gaps are plugged by existing legislation.
Amendments Nos. 118 and 119 would allow immigration officers to arrest without a warrant a person suspected of an offence in the immigration Acts. However, immigration officers currently have the power to arrest without a warrant persons suspected of offences contained in the Immigration Act 1971. The Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 inserted section 28A into the 1971 Act to allow immigration officers to arrest without warrant those suspected of offences contained in several sections of the 1971 Act, including sections 24, 24A, 25, 25B and 25C. Those sections cover offences of illegal entry, overstaying, breaching conditions of stay, obtaining or seeking to obtain leave by deception, facilitating the breach of immigration law and assisting an asylum seeker to arrive for gain.
Immigration officers do not have the power of arrest without a warrant for some offences in the immigration Acts. For example, an immigration officer may not arrest someone for failing to submit to a medical examination, which is an offence under section 24(1)(d) of the 1971 Act, without first obtaining a warrant. In such cases, we believe that it is appropriate for a power of arrest under the immigration Acts to apply only with a warrant. As I have said, teams of immigration officers have received specific arrest training to allow them to operate without police assistance. Those officers have been using their powers to arrest suspected immigration offenders since 2000.
I am sure amendment No. 122 was tabled with the intention, in conjunction with another amendment, of creating a new offence in the subsection. On its own, however, amendment No. 122 would have no material effect, so I hope that the hon. Gentleman will forgive me for saying no more on it.