The British Conservative Party faced its most significant electoral defeat in nearly two centuries during the election on July 4, 2024. The key issues that swayed voters were the high cost of living and the expenses linked to immigration.
Current Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, remarked that the immigration and asylum system was in disarray, a result of the previous administration’s failures.
In a speech on November 28, new Prime Minister Kiel noted that almost one million migrants had entered the UK in the year ending June 2023. He pointed out that this was four times greater than the rate in 2019, attributing this spike to the previous government’s overly liberal immigration policies, which he claimed transformed Britain into a sort of open-border experiment.
Earlier this year, the government outlined its priorities in a white paper aimed at restoring control over immigration. The plan includes reducing overall immigration levels, emphasizing that newcomers should contribute, learn the language, and integrate into society. Employers looking to hire foreign workers must also ensure they invest in training for local workers first.
Some of the strategies being discussed could also be relevant for the United States.
The UK had previously implemented a policy that encouraged hiring local workers over foreigners, aiming to diminish the job market’s appeal for illegal immigrants. This is something that could be effective in the U.S. too.
In principle, employers should prioritize American workers as long as there are eligible candidates. However, the availability of jobs for foreign workers can sometimes lead to a situation where undocumented immigrants find it easier to secure employment.
Another noteworthy aspect of the UK’s immigration strategy involves providing resettlement assistance to newly arrived migrants, especially refugees and asylum seekers. Resettlement should extend beyond just these groups, focusing also on helping them gain English language skills. This can facilitate their entry into the job market and effectively reduce opportunities for those who enter illegally.
The U.S. could benefit from similar initiatives aimed at supporting newly arrived, legally recognized immigrants in learning English to better fill job vacancies that require language proficiency. This could help in making jobs more accessible to both local and legal immigrant workers, in turn reducing the number of jobs available for illegal immigrants.
The UK has also introduced measures to bolster worker rights and combat employment exploitation through the establishment of a Fairwork Agency. Agencies in the U.S. could collaborate to enhance enforcement of labor laws.
In America, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is responsible for ensuring compliance with laws that prohibit the employment of unauthorized immigrants, in conjunction with Department of Labor regulations to enforce wage and hour laws. These entities need to work together more effectively, as some employers seem to prefer paying less to immigrant workers compared to their American counterparts.
Another potential takeaway from the UK is their EVISA system, which allows immigration officials access to digital records of foreign visitors’ identities and immigration statuses. A similar adaptation could offer ICE enhanced capabilities to track individuals and determine their eligibility under U.S. immigration laws.
These UK reforms aim to limit unnecessary migration. Conservative leaders speculate that stricter measures may become necessary if recent trends continue. Some even suggest revisiting the European Convention on Human Rights and the United Nations Refugee Convention to enforce stricter immigration policies.
Similarly, the U.S. faces significant backlogs in its immigration courts, making it challenging to address the cases of asylum seekers or remove deportable migrants effectively. The current backlog stands at over 3.4 million cases.
