UK to Refuse Citizenship to Undocumented Migrants.

On Wednesday, the British government announced that it was strengthening immigration laws to make it nearly impossible for undocumented migrants who arrive on small boats to later be granted citizenship.

According to new guidelines, migrants who arrive by sea or concealed in the back of cars will typically be denied citizenship.

“This guidance further strengthens measures to make it clear that anyone who enters the UK illegally, including small boat arrivals, faces having a British citizenship application refused,” a Home Office spokesperson said.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour government is under pressure to reduce migration after Nigel Farage’s anti-immigration Reform UK party received almost four million votes in the most recent general election, which is a far-right party record.

However, some Labour MPs have criticised the rule change. Lawmaker Stella Creasy wrote on X that “if we give someone refugee status, it can’t be right to then refuse them a route to become a British citizen,” adding that the policy would leave them “forever second class.”

According to Free Movement, an immigration law blog, the changes could “block a large number of refugees from naturalising as British citizens, effective immediately.”

The revised guidelines were described as “incredibly spiteful and damaging to integration.”

Following this week’s debate by Members of Parliament on the government’s new Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, which would provide law enforcement officers “counter-terror style powers” to disband gangs smuggling undocumented migrants across the Channel, the statement was made.

The July 2024 poll that put Starmer in power focused heavily on immigration, both legal and illegal, which are both at historically high levels right now.

When he took office, he promptly abandoned the idea of his Conservative predecessor, Rishi Sunak, to deport newcomers to Rwanda in order to discourage unauthorised migration to the UK.

Rather, he promised to “smash the gangs” in order to reduce the numbers.According to preliminary data from the interior ministry, 36,816 individuals were found in the Channel between England and France in 2024, a 25% rise over the 29,437 who entered in 2023.