NOT a single small boat migrant will be sent to Rwanda this year — in a blow to the Government’s showpiece policy.
It comes despite Rishi Sunak’s new borders law being introduced next week.
Not a single small boat migrant will be sent to Rwanda this year — in a blow to the Government’s showpiece policy
Rishi Sunak will soon reveal his new borders bill to clamp down on illegal immigration
Ministers cut a deal with the African state to take illegal migrants but it is being fought in the courts.
The legal battle will delay deportations until Christmas at the earliest, according to a Whitehall source.
Lawyers and campaigners are appealing a High Court verdict that the Government’s controversial approach was legal.
The Court of Appeal process and, if required, a Supreme Court ruling will take months.
Meanwhile, the PM and Home Secretary Suella Braverman will finally show MPs their bill to clamp down on illegal immigration.
It features controversial carve-outs from the European Convention on Human Rights — disapplying the law in the UK in relation to tackling small boats.
It will make it an offence to enter the UK without permission.
Ministers hope to legislate to remove failed asylum seekers within days rather than years.
It will also contain measures to stop migrants’ abuse of modern slavery laws to delay deportation and wrongly try to claim asylum.
These bogus claims clog up the system.
The Whitehall source added: “The new Bill is going to be extremely controversial.
“We expect a rocky ride through Parliament.
“Even if it is passed at breakneck speed it will do little to speed up the Rwanda process.”
As many as 85,000 small boat migrants are expected to make the cross-Channel journey in the 12 months to December.
