Introduced in January 2025, the government’s new Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill includes a number of provisions relating to immigration detention. While some bring positive change, including full repeal of the deeply damaging Safety of Rwanda Act 2024, others are extremely worrying.
Concerning gaps and changes
The Bill scraps much of the Illegal Migration Act (IMA) 2023. However, it fails to repeal a number of the Act’s key provisions. These include Section 12 IMA, which seeks to overturn the long-standing position in caselaw that it is for the courts to determine what constitutes a “reasonable” length of detention, and grant this power instead to the Home Secretary. Section 12 also seeks to enable the Home Secretary to continue detaining a person after the reason for their detention (pending examination, removal, or deportation order/decision being made within a reasonable period of time) has fallen away. The government’s decision to retain these and other provisions in the IMA is very concerning.
The Bill also fails to repeal damaging provisions in the Nationality and Borders Act 2022. This includes provisions that could introduce unfairly rushed legal procedures for people in detention, such as the accelerated detained appeals process, and priority removal notices.
Other provisions in the Bill also expand the Home Secretary’s powers to detain people in certain circumstances pending their deportation. This change will also apply retrospectively, raising additional issues in terms of the rule of law.
What is Medical Justice calling for?
In light of the concerns above, Medical Justice is calling on MPs and Peers to amend the Bill. The changes we want to see include:
- Repeal of the Illegal Migration Act 2023 (IMA) in full to prevent the retention of harmful provisions
- Repeal of concerning provisions of the Nationality and Borders Act 2022 (NABA)
- Removal of the retrospective effect of detention powers
- Introduction of a 28-day statutory time limit on detention, accompanied by judicial oversight of the decision to detain and ongoing detention.
Parliamentary briefings and evidence
We have shared our concerns and calls for change in a number of parliamentary briefings and written evidence submissions so far. You can access these in full below.
Commons Committee Stage (27 Feb – 18 Mar)
- Written evidence by the Detention Taskforce, chaired by Medical Justice
- Joint written evidence by Detention Action, Medical Justice and Bail for Immigration Detainees
Commons Report Stage / Third Reading (date tbc)
- Joint briefing by The Coalition for Asylum Rights and Justice (CARJ), including Medical Justice
Joint Committee on Human Rights – legislative scrutiny of the Bill
- Joint evidence by Medical Justice and Bail for Immigration Detainees
Looking ahead
The Bill is expected to finish its remaining Commons stages shortly after Easter, and will then move into the House of Lords. Further timings are still to be confirmed, but it is possible the legislation may be passed and enacted by the summer.
Medical Justice will continue to raise concerns about the damaging effects and gaps of the Bill as it makes its way through Parliament, and will share further updates on our work as it becomes available.
