UK deports 35,000 illegal migrants in one year, prime minister confirms

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced that the United Kingdom deported 35,000 illegal immigrants in the first year of his Labour government, marking a significant escalation in efforts to tackle unlawful migration.

Starmer made the statement during a joint press appearance with US President Donald Trump in Turnberry, Scotland, Caliber.Az reports, citing foreign media.

Starmer noted that the government had done “a lot of work” to stop people coming. He said 35,000 people have been returned over the past year.

The topic of illegal migration dominated the leaders’ discussion, with President Trump delivering a characteristically blunt critique of cross-Channel migration.

“Last month we had zero people come into the country, zero, other than coming through legal means.

If you’re stopping immigration and stopping the wrong people, my hats are off to you. You’re doing, not a good thing, you’re doing a fantastic thing.

So I know nothing about the boats.

But if the boats are loaded up with bad people - and they usually are, because other countries don’t send their best, they send people that they don’t want, they’re not stupid people, they send the people that they don’t want.

And I’ve heard that you’ve taken a much stronger stance on this,” Trump said.

According to the British Home Office, over 21,000 individuals have entered the UK illegally via small boats across the English Channel since the beginning of 2025—an alarming 56% increase compared to the same period in 2024. On June 30 alone, 879 people made the dangerous crossing, taking advantage of warm summer weather. The highest daily total so far this year was recorded on May 31, with approximately 1,200 arrivals.

By Vafa Guliyeva