UK government pushes bill to crack down on illegal immigration, hold migrants offshore

The British government introduced legislation on Tuesday that would usher in a sweeping crackdown on illegal immigration – with new penalties for those who enter the country illegally and permission for the government to keep migrants in offshore detention centers.

The Nationality and Borders Bill, which has a high chance of passage given the governing Conservative Party’s dominant majority in the House of Commons, saw its first reading in the chamber on Tuesday. The bill will create a new criminal offense for "knowingly" entering the country illegally as part of a number of measures to prevent illegal immigration. Illegal entry will also hurt a migrant’s asylum application, and such migrants will receive only a temporary protected status rather than a right to settle, and will be subjected to regular review of their status.