According to the Home Office, immigration enforcement teams carried out 2,715 illegal working visits and raids in London during 2025, resulting in 2,172 arrests. The previous year there were 2,008 raids.
Greens councillor Hau-Yu Tam, who had proposed the motion, said in January 2026 there had been immigration raids at a nail bar in Catford and a car wash in Brockley which was attended by the then immigration minister Mike Tapp and a Sky News film crew.
Cllr Tam, cabinet member for communities, sanctuary and healing, said: “Despite the resources, despite the spectacle, only two people were arrested and both [were] later released on bail. A few months later, a nail bar was raided again, and again a few days after.
“According to local accounts, Chinese women workers were filmed, handcuffed and intimidated by a large officer team. They were not arrested, but they were intimidated,” she said.
“That is political theatre. That is a theatre of cruelty,” she added.
“And if the purpose of race is simply enforcement … there’s no evidence these operations are making our community safer.
“Our immigration system is broken,” she said.
