The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act received Royal Assent on 2 December 2025. This new legislation introduces new powers and offences which aims to improve UK border and strengthen the immigration system.
The UK government has faced significant pressure on its handling of the “small boats crisis” since being elected in July 2024, with small boats arrivals in 2025 increasing by 7% on the year before as of 8th December 2025.
What powers does the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act introduce?
The Act brings forward a raft of new powers including:
- Powers for Immigration Enforcement, the National Crime Agency and police to gather intelligence from illegal migrants’ mobile phones to track down and arrest people smugglers – as well as on arrival at the border, phones can be seized during property, vehicle or premises searches during enforcement raids, officers will no longer need to arrest someone
- Making it a criminal offence to supply, offer to supply or handle articles such as small boat parts, for example engines, air valves, and inflation pumps – offenders risk up to 14 years in prison
- Making it a criminal offence to download, research or make a record of information linked to people smuggling, such as departure dates, timings and locations of small boats crossings, research on how to make a small boat or gathering intel on where French police might be stationed at the border – offenders could receive up to 5 years in prison
- Making it a criminal offence to import, manufacture or supply compartments that modify a vehicle, like fake floors for a van or a lorry to hide migrants underneath – offenders could receive up to 5 years in prison
- Making it a criminal offence to put lives in danger during a small boat crossing through physical aggression or refusing to be rescue attempts – offenders could face up to 6 years in prison
- Excluding foreign sex offenders from protections under the Refugee Convention, meaning any conviction of a crime that qualifies a foreign national for the sex offenders register will lead to them being denied refugee status
- Making it a criminal offence to create or post material online which promotes small boats crossings or services to facilitate illegal migration
What will be the impact of these changes?
These powers are expected to speed up investigations where it might previously have taken months or years to prove offences. With these powers, the law enforcement can intercept, detain and arrest people smugglers who bring in illegal immigrants. Even more, they can intervene and disrupt this kind of criminal activity at an earlier stage.
We anticipate that this Act will deter illegal immigration, reduce small boat crossings in the Channel, strengthen the UK’s asylum and immigration system and allow the UK to be one step closer to restoring order and control at the border.
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