Karmactive Staff
The Home Office has begun a major operation targeting illegal working in the delivery sector, focusing on asylum seekers working as delivery riders without permission. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper ordered this enforcement push as part of the government’s “Plan for Change” to fix the immigration system.
Immigration officers will check UK hotspots where migrants are suspected of working illegally in the gig economy. The operation follows controversy after Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp shared evidence on social media of asylum seekers at hotels allegedly working for food delivery companies.
“Illegal working undermines honest business and undercuts local wages – the British public will not stand for it and neither will this government,” Cooper said. She noted that migrants are often “sold a lie by people smuggling gangs” about work opportunities in the UK, only to face “squalid living conditions, minimal pay and inhumane working hours.”
The consequences are severe for both workers and businesses. Asylum seekers caught working illegally will lose their state-funded housing and financial support. Businesses employing illegal workers face fines up to £60,000 per worker, with company directors risking disqualification and prison sentences up to five years.
Government figures show 10,031 illegal working visits led to 7,130 arrests between July 2024 and June 2025 – increases of 48% and 51% compared to the previous year. The first quarter of 2025 saw 748 civil penalties issued to businesses breaking immigration rules, the highest since 2016.
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Major delivery companies have agreed to strengthen security. After meeting with ministers on June 30, Deliveroo, Uber Eats, and Just Eat promised to increase daily facial recognition checks to verify rider identities and prevent account sharing.
Eddy Montgomery from the Home Office stated this coordinated effort will target those exploiting their UK status to work illegally in the gig economy. “We will bring the full force of powers available to us to disrupt and stop this abuse. There will be no place to hide,” he warned.
The operation extends beyond delivery riders. A June 18 operation in Smethwick resulted in 26 arrests of suspected immigration offenders mainly working on construction sites.
The government is also changing the law to require all companies, including those in the gig economy, to verify that workers have the legal right to work – aiming to stop the abuse of flexible working arrangements.
This enforcement comes as the UK faces increasing Channel crossings, with about 20,600 people making the journey so far in 2025, up 52% compared to the same period in 2024.
