A White Paper from the Department for Home

Securing Britain's Future

Immigration and Border Protection in the 21st
Century

Securing Britain's Future – Immigration and Border Security in the 21st Century
 Introduction
One of the issues that shall confront the United Kingdom as we enter the 21st Century is that of our
borders and more importantly securing them for the future. Already the figures are telling in
themselves.

Last year 5,000 people legally entered this country.

This year, the projected figure is 10,000.

If this trend was to continue, then by 2000 the figure of those wishing to legally enter this country
could reach over 100,000 people per year applying to live in this country. The figures on Asylum
Seekers also is quite telling with 44,840 people applying to live in this country last year, and the figure
set to hit around 24,000 this year.

Therefore it is clear that a serious issue for the future is going to be the processing and mointering of
this situation. The Government is committed to making sure that people who wish to live and work in
this country legally are allowed to do so. However with such a large burden of applications, it is
doubtful that all people are going to be content to wait their turn as their applications are processed.
This is why we must seek to do what we can to prevent people from illegally entering the country and
ruining the system for the thousands of legal applicants.

At present, the United Kingdom has no force which is geared towards solving this problem and this
causes many problems. By having each separate local force dealing with policing for the borders
there is very little overall communications between the separate entry points to this country. With the
age of modern travel, there are even more way for people to enter the country and thus we have a truly
fluid border situation. This means that the United Kingdom must adopt to modern times with modern
solutions to modern problems.

In this White Paper, we hope to outline the problems that at present face the border situation in this
country, and the ways that we may future seek to secure our borders. There can be no doubt that the
future of this country rests in sensible and well controlled immigration, and that is why the
Government is committed to looking at these problems in a rational and sensible manner. Given the
large of amount of feeling that this is on this subject, it is hoped that this White Paper shall help to
look at the problem purely from a governmental perspective and not get involved in the ideological
battles which have often meant that action on this increasing important topic has been prevented.

Securing Britain's Future – Immigration and Border Security in the 21st Century
 Immigration – A British Tradition
When looking at the issue of border security and control, it must be understood that immigration has
been a British Tradition for many centuries. We must never forget that Britain has always been
looked upon as a country of tolerance and understanding. Not only that, but that the Government of
the United Kingdom has often been enhanced thanks to aid from foreign visitors to this country.
William the Conqueror and William, Prince of Orange to name but two people that have been born
outside of the United Kingdom but have come to have a profound effect upon the course of its history,
notably for the better.

Therefor we must not become blind to the fact that immigration is an issue that has done much to help
the country over many years. The economic side of the argument shows that immigrants to this
country are often hard working, and furthermore do the jobs that many in this country are unwilling to
do. Thus they provide a stable workforce for the lower menial jobs in society, which must be done. It
would therefore be foolish for the Government of the United Kingdom to take a reactionary policy
which would do much damage to the Economy of the United Kingdom and further prevent
progressive growth across the country.

It must also be understood, that immigration has been culturally a significant part of the British way
of life. Britain has always been seen as a place which has had enlightened enough attitudes to sustain
large scale immigration. Such has been in the 1950s and 1960s with a great influx of Commonwealth
Citizens to the United Kingdom seeking work and social betterment. These people have done a
valuable service to the country and we must not narrow our minds in Government to ignore this.

Likewise however, we must accept that uncontrolled immigration would be a massive problem to the
British people and to the British Economy. While we can accept that immigrants provide a valuable
service to the Economy of the United Kingdom, we must first and foremost seek to make sure that the
people of this country have jobs themselves and that they are not faced with being usurped by those
that can work for lower wages that have just arrived in this country. Moreover, there is a certain
natural limit by which the British public services can sustain an ever increasing population of
immigrants. To that end, the British Borders must be secure to allow for controlled immigration that
the Government can monitor and thus adjust public service provision to meet lest the situation
become untenable.

We must therefore first seek to define what is the ideal of British immigration. As has been stated in
this document previously, the best possible situation is for 'controlled' and 'stable' immigration
policy. Controlled in this case is defined as:

To adjust to a requirement; regulate

Whereas 'stable' in this case is defined as:

Not subject to sudden or extreme change or fluctuation

Therefore by a controlled and stable immigration policy we wish to see a means by which a level of
immigration is sustained that is not going to wildly fluctuate and thus damage the British Economy or
British Society but which further is able to flexibly change with the situations that we are faced with.
We must understand that most people that enter this country do so with the intention of returning
home in the near future once they have made money here in the United Kingdom. Therefore the large
majority of legal migrants to the United Kingdom are temporary and so we must take that into
account when we are trying to set up a policy on immigration.

Securing Britain's Future – Immigration and Border Security in the 21st Century
Flexibility is of course key. We cannot start to tackle the issue by setting up arbitrary figures that
detailed how many people may enter the country. That will merely lead to division in the country and
be a divisive tool for the future. The only route by which a stable and controlled immigration system
may be set up is if we have an open minded view on what exactly the country can take in the realms of
immigration. The main thrust of Governmental immigration policy in the 21st Century and for the
near future must be to achieve a situation by which immigration is sustainable and allows for those
that aspire to live and work in this country can do so, without negatively benefiting the country as a
whole and those that currently reside within it. Therefore it is crucial that in the next few years the
Government maintain its current stance of sensible immigration standards.

Further measures should be taken to stamp down on illegal immigration which negatively impacts
legal immigrants and law abiding people of this country. Illegal immigration also leads to greater
tension between racial groups and negatively reflects on the benefits that legal migrants bring to the
country through their work. The Government should take a tough stance on this issue so as to enable
public confidence in the immigration system of this country to be maintained at a high level.

Securing Britain's Future – Immigration and Border Security in the 21st Century
 Securing Britain's Borders
At present, the nearest thing that the United Kingdom has to a Border Patrol Force is that of Her
Majesty's Custom and Excise which at present protects the country from smugglers who try to enter
the borders. While this is a valuable service, obviously there is a real need to have professional
officers in place that deal specifically with the demands that border security brings. In many countries
across the world, such actions had been taken many years ago. The United States of America which
suffers from a large border problem, set up a Boarder Patrol Force at the start of this century and it is
charged with the protection of the border from smugglers and illegal immigration, key areas under
this White Paper.

We therefore believe it would be prudent to create a specialised Border Patrol Force in the United
Kingdom which would be operate in the United Kingdom's ports, airports and other access points.
Such a force would be able to provide specialised law enforcement for the problem of illegal
immigration and smuggling as well as being able to liaise with other nations in preventing criminals
from exiting or entering the country. A main problem at the moment is the lack of real
communication there is at the access points of the country with so many different local police forces
being in control of airports, ports and rail services that are in their local area. That means that it
depends on the resources of that local police force to protect the country from those that would
illegally enter or those that would try to bypass the correct procedures. This Border Patrol Force
would act similarly to Special Branch, working as an organisation that is outside the jurisdiction of
normal police officers with their own officers, personnel and equipment but working under the
overall direction of the Home Office. Such a system would provide maximum effectiveness and
would enable resources to be more actively targeted at the area.

The Force should be around about 6,000 strong with its own team of administrative staff which would
enable officers to spend their time in the field and not tied down by administrative problems that are
often associated with police work especially in the field of immigration. Officers would receive
normal police training on top of which they would receive extra training in immigration (ie the
techniques of illegal immigrants and the methods they use to enter the country). Furthermore, these
officers would be armed in order to deal with the violent methods that are often employed by those
that illegal force people into the country. Such a force would further be able to deal with the problems
of drug traffickers and smugglers who often use similar techniques to bypass lawful procedures for
their betterment. The force would further need around 70 new justice centres by which those that have
tried to by pass security would be detained until they could be either charged or released.

The project should break down as following:

(in bold the number of new centres, in italics the number of new officers)

England 45 3865
Scotland 7 600
Wales 8 685
N. Ireland 10 850
The costing for the project would be as follows:

England £935,389,500
Scotland £131,380,000
Wales £150,075,500
N. Ireland £176,955,000
Grand Total: £1,393,800,0000

Securing Britain's Future – Immigration and Border Security in the 21st Century
Annual Maintenance Costs would be:

England £83,432,915
Scotland £12,263,915
Wales £14,004,915
N. Ireland £16,913,915
Grand Total : £126,615,660
Such a force could be reduced in cost by having the construction staggered over the country over the
next decade in preparation for the future.

There are of course notable knock on benefits for creating such a force as have been highlighted in
this document. For example, drugs.

Drug traffickers much like illegal immigrants seek to bypass legal procedures much like illegal
immigrants and with a specialized force to deal with the problems that they bring, we should be able
to reduce the amount of drugs that enter the country thus further reducing crime.

Securing Britain's Future – Immigration and Border Security in the 21st Century
 Conclusion
Therefore in conclusion, there are three seminal reason for creating a Border Security Force:

1. Better co-ordinating resources to enforce border security

2. To reduce illegal immigration, smuggling and drug trafficking
3. To allow for sustainable border management in the future

As an island the United Kingdom has a massive border issue, and it is important that we protect our
borders so that we are able to prevent crime, and to reduce the burden that it brings upon our society.
By raising infrastructure on this matter, we can help to guard British interests into the 21st Century. A
staggered invested plan would see that people in this country receive the protection that they need in
from the police force in the realm of border policing as well as giving the Government an extra tool
in combating crime. Legislation would need to be crafted to outline its structure and to give them the
right to use arms in the protection of the citizenry of this country, however in a modern 20th century
society, such precautions are necessary as those that seek to bypass the law become more aggressive
in the way that that they go about it.

We need to face the challenges of the future head on, and shrinking away from our responsibilities
now would be a mistake. The Government should take a strong lead on immigration policy and
border protection in order to prevent problems arising in the future from this matter. While the
political parties in this country have chosen to bring this matter to the attention of the public, it is
critical that bold new initiatives be taken in order to secure public confidence in the Government that
they can protect people from undue harm, that may be caused by a lack of border security.

On the matter of immigration we must be quick to distance ourselves from the extremism of some,
that would see Britain become a closed society. Likewise, we must make sure that immigration does
not become an unmanageable burden upon society and is something that continues to benefit the
country as it has always done in the past. The 21st Century shall hold new challenges for the
Government and we must rise to meet them if we are to be successful. Following the examples of
modern nations like the United States, which have such forces it is time that the United Kingdom
started to follow a path that shall help to benefit law enforcement in this country. It is the
responsibility of this Government to do what it can to make the borders of this country safer over the
next few years.

Securing Britain's Future – Immigration and Border Security in the 21st Century