Home Secretary Suella Braverman vowed to root out “crooked immigration lawyers” on Tuesday as she unveiled a task force targeting lawyers who coach illegal immigrants to lie.
The Home Office and the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said the Professional Enablers Taskforce, which targets “a small minority” of “unscrupulous lawyers,” has already uncovered a case in which an immigration firm is linked to “one of the most wanted human traffickers.”
The official launch came after the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) shut down three firms that were exposed to be offering fake asylum claims for cash.
Ms. Braverman and Justice Secretary Alex Chalk are also set to meet with the SRA and the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner on Tuesday to discuss prosecutions against such immigration lawyers.
But heads of The Law Society said there’s nothing new in the announcement, with one director saying ministers are using “a bit of lawyer-bashing as a distraction” when it should focus on clearing asylum backlogs.
Launching the task force, Ms. Braverman said “crooked immigration lawyers must be rooted out and brought to justice.”
“While the majority of lawyers act with integrity—we know that some are lying to help illegal migrants game the system. It is not right or fair on those who play by the rules,” she said in a statement.
The home secretary said she’s “determined” to crack down on these lawyers and stop the smuggling of illegal immigrants on small boats.
The justice secretary also vowed to hold to account “unscrupulous lawyers who aid and abet them by abusing the legal system.”
“The accuracy and honesty of legal advice underpin the integrity of our world-leading legal system, so those who undermine it by encouraging deception must be held to account,” Mr. Chalk said.
The task force has been doing preliminary work for a few months.
One firm, which was found to be “linked to one of the most wanted human traffickers,” has been referred to the police, the government said.
The departments also said lawyers found to be coaching immigrants to lie can could face up to life in prison under the Immigration Act 1971 for “assisting unlawful immigration to the UK.”
The taskforce is expected to expand its targets to include doctors, accountants, and employers who use their expertise to facilitate illegal migration, the government said.
‘Red Herring’
Reacting to the government’s announcement on Tuesday, Richard Atkinson, deputy vice president of the Law Society, said it’s not clear what the government announcement was for as the task force has existed for months and authorities already have the powers they need to deal with crooked lawyers.Mr. Atkinson said the “overwhelming majority of immigration lawyers” adhere to the law and professional standards.
“The focus of the Home Office on a tiny minority of lawyers to which they are apparently applying considerable resources should not deflect from the fact that there remain significant backlogs in asylum claims or the unworkability of the Illegal Migration Act,” he said.
David McNeill, director of public affairs at The Law Society, told BBC Radio 4’s “Today” programme that while the profession wants to see bad practice “eradicated, the government’s announcement is ”something of a red herring.”
“This task force which they tout with such aggressive language has been in existence for months now so really from our perspective it just looks like a bit of lawyer-bashing as a distraction from really bad news for the government on the number of asylum seekers now accommodated in hotels—50,000,” he said.
Mr. McNeill said the asylum backlog and the quality of the casework are “continuing to be extremely bad” with some cases taking over a year and more than half of rejected claims being granted on appeal.
Shadow justice secretary Steve Reed said it was “too little too late” and the “buck stops” with the Conservatives, accusing them of having “sat idly by for 13 years while illegal migration has spun out of control”.
“Now, weak as ever, they are setting up a talking shop instead of cracking down on those who abuse our immigration system,” he said.
The unveiling of the Professional Enablers Taskforce came during the government’s “small boats” week, in which it’s making a series of announcements on illegal immigration.
On Monday immigration minister Robert Jenrick announced a significantly increase in fines for employers who allow illegal immigrants to work for them and landlords who let their properties to illegal immigrants.
The first group of illegal immigrants arrived on Monday at Bibby Stockholm, a barge moored in Portland Port, Dorset, which the government hopes to house around 500 “single adult male asylum seekers aged 18 to 65 who would otherwise be destitute” while they wait for the Home Office’s decision. However, according to charity Care4Calais, around 20 illegal immigrants did not board the barge because their transfers were “cancelled” by lawyers.
