Nigel Farage’s Reform Party has announced plans to construct immigration detention centers in regions that support open borders policies, while guaranteeing no such facilities will be built in areas represented by Reform Members of Parliament or Reform-led local councils.
The proposal, unveiled on Sunday, focuses on establishing centers capable of holding up to 24,000 migrants simultaneously—a capacity nearly ten times the current level of immigration removal centers—within an 18-month timeframe. This initiative is part of a broader strategy aimed at deporting one million migrants over five years.
Under the plan, individuals identified for deportation will be offered financial incentives to voluntarily leave or face detention. Reform has pledged that facilities will not be constructed in areas where Reform MPs serve or Reform-led local governments operate. The party asserts this approach ensures migration policy reflects democratic consent: “Put simply, if you vote in a Reform council or a Reform MP, we guarantee you will not have a migrant detention center near you. However, if you vote Green, there’s a very good chance that you will. This way, everyone gets what they vote for,” said Zia Yusuf, Reform’s Home Affairs spokesman.
The party’s reasoning includes the claim that building centers in regions supporting open borders and avoiding areas with controlled immigration policies creates a fairer system. A key quote from the spokesperson emphasized: “This is the fairest approach to ensuring democratic consent for all aspects of our mass deportation program.”
The plan follows concerns about escalating costs of housing asylum seekers, which amount to approximately £15 million ($20.3 million) per day in the UK. Even after applications are rejected, many asylum seekers remain in the country for years without being deported. Illegal immigrants with criminal records are also often housed at taxpayers’ expense and have been reported to commit crimes while awaiting application reviews.
