Home Office illegals nicked
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By MICHAEL LEA
FIVE illegal immigrants were under arrest last night — collared when they turned up to work at the HOME OFFICE.
The Nigerians were hired to clean the Immigration and Nationality Directorate office in London — home of the agency responsible for booting out foreigners who sneak into Britain.
A probe was last night launched by the Home Office, already reeling from a series of high-profile blunders.
The latest revelation takes the chaos over immigration right to Home Secretary John Reid’s doorstep.
The minister said last night that the men were seized because of security checks routinely carried out on any employee working in a Home Office building.
He added: “We are using a contract cleaning company whose employees we check.
“We don’t act on trust. This is what employers should be doing.”
The five Nigerians were caught as they were about to clean the desks of officials.
Figures this week showed that only 11 companies have been prosecuted for hiring illegals in the past five years.
The latest shambles was uncovered by Channel 4 News.
Shadow Home Secretary David Davis said: “The Home Office’s ability to catch illegal immigrants is so bad they even manage to employ them.”
New laws coming into force this year will make firms liable to fines of £2,000 per employee if they knowingly give work to illegals.
And Home Office whistleblower Steve Moxon, a former immigration adviser, said: “Is the Home Office going to be prosecuted?”
The revelation comes just 24 hours after one IND boss admitted he did not have the “faintest idea” how many illegals are in the UK.