Nearly 20,000 migrant criminals are currently roaming free in UK despite deportation orders

3 comments 3 Next NEARLY 20,000 migrant criminals are currently roaming free in the UK despite deportation orders, it has been revealed. Ministers have made removing foreign criminals the centrepiece of their immigration crackdown, with the Home Office spending upwards of £8million on detention centre places to deport thousands more a year. The Home Office spent upwards of £8million on detention centre places Source: Louis Wood News Group Newspapers Ltd Ministers have made removing foreign criminals the centrepiece of their immigration crackdown Source: Getty Advertisement Since the election, over 80,000 immigration offenders and individuals illegally in the UK have been returned, an increase of 52 per cent on the previous two years, with levels of removals at their highest since 2016.

However, new data for June 2025 has revealed that 20,000 foreign offenders were living free in the community despite being subject to deportation orders. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! Email address Please provide a valid email. Your info will be used in accordance with our Privacy Policy You'll now receive top stories, breaking news, and more, straight to your email. Meanwhile, return rates for some countries are so low that fewer than one in 20 can expect to be deported.

There were 773 offenders awaiting deportation to Nigeria , the data reveals, according to The Times. Read more UK News ROT IN JAIL James Bulger’s killer Venables' freedom bid REFUSED as fiend kept behind bars KILLER TREND UK's e-scooter 'Wild West' as deaths rise & grieving mum begs 'save your kid' It comes after we revealed that hundreds of “boomerang” criminals are sneaking back into the UK at a record rate of nearly 10 a week, The Sun on Sunday can reveal.

Home Office figures show more than 1,800 convicted offenders who had been kicked out were found back on Britain’s streets in the last five years. Shockingly, more than one in eight of the total had been kicked out at least twice – but still managed to return. The criminals uncovered in our figures had each been handed a deportation order after a conviction, only to be picked up again by police or immigration officers and put back on a plane.

Advertisement Most read in The Sun JOB LIE Civil servant GUILTY of fraud after juggling FIVE taxpayer-funded jobs at same time COP OUT Cops let intruder who broke into home walk free - as homeowner’s wife is ‘BIASED’ ‘POISON’ RIDDLE Mystery as twin sisters found dead after ‘eating bar of homemade SOAP’ TAKE NOTE Major rule change to birth and death registrations is being rolled out today The true figure is likely to be even higher, as government statistics only cover those who were actually caught.

The government’s returns figures also include those who are deported directly from prison and not released to the community. Foreign offenders living in the community can also be subject to electronic monitoring. A deportation order is served on foreign nationals jailed for a year or more and bans them from coming back for at least a decade. Sneaking back into the country in breach of the order is a crime in its own right, carrying up to five years in prison .

Advertisement A Home Office spokesperson said: “Any foreign national offenders who return in breach of a deportation order will face robust enforcement action, and we will seek to remove them from the UK at the earliest opportunity. “Returns are at their highest level in nearly a decade, with almost 12,000 foreign criminals returned or deported since the election – a 41% increase on the two years prior.” 3 comments 3