GB News Home and Security editor Mark White has cautioned that immigration attorneys and advocacy groups possess the capability to "bog down" Government deportation efforts through protracted legal proceedings.
Mark revealed how legal professionals have developed sophisticated strategies for exploiting regulatory gaps that benefit their clients seeking UK residency.
The newly implemented Anglo-French migration agreement permits British authorities to return certain Channel crossers to France whilst accepting asylum seekers who demonstrate connections to the UK.
GB NEWS
|More migrant boats have arrived in the UK today
The arrangement, which became operational this week, represents a trial programme scheduled to continue until June 2026.
White explained to GB News: "I mean, there has been a real change over the last decade in the way Governments try to enact their immigration policies largely because of the growing expertise among lawyers, NGOs, and charities advocating on behalf of migrants.
"They have become so skilled at identifying whatever loophole offers their client the best opportunity to gain asylum and remain in the UK. And so, it’s become very difficult.
"The previous Conservative government found it incredibly challenging to get the Rwanda scheme through it was mired in legal challenges for years.
"They finally got the last of those legal obstacles out of the way and were about to enact the policy until Labour came into power and decided to scrap it.
"But it wasn’t just Rwanda. The day-to-day business of the Home Office trying to deport individuals who have failed the asylum process was also bogged down in lengthy legal challenges that dragged on for years.
"And now, I think Labour is finding this out the hard way. Any plan to try to return migrants to France however limited (and it will be limited, with around 95 per cent of those crossing the Channel not included in this scheme) even that small cohort could resist.
"If they get legal support from lawyers and NGOs, they stand a very good chance of bogging the process down in the courts and potentially winning any challenge."
According to the published treaty, individuals cannot be removed if they have lodged human rights applications, claimed to be minors, or secured court injunctions against their transfer.
The document specifies that Britain must verify "at the time of their transfer that person will not have an outstanding human rights claim" before any removal can occur.
GB NEWS
|Mark White issued a stern warning to the Labour Government
Additionally, anyone asserting they are an unaccompanied minor will avoid deportation, despite documented instances of asylum seekers falsely claiming to be under eighteen in recent years.
The arrangement permits both nations to suspend operations with merely seven days' notice, whilst complete termination requires only thirty days' warning.
Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp has condemned the arrangement, warning that legal representatives would "ruthlessly exploit" provisions within the treaty to prevent returns.