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Illegal immigrants (FOI)

Illegal immigrants (FOI)

Produced by the Freedom of Information office
Authored by States of Jersey and published on 23 March 2016.

​Request

A

I should like to know what measures are in place should an illegal immigrant try to enter Jersey either by boat (such as in a car) or by plane?

B

Is there a process to return the migrant to where they came from?

C

I am concerned as in the most recent case of the Iranian migrant found stowed away in a car he has still not been deported several weeks later and, allegedly, has been bailed by a local resident.

Response

A

The Immigration Act 1971, as extended to Jersey, states as follows:

Section 33(1) An illegal entrant means a person unlawfully entering or seeking to enter in breach of a deportation order or of the immigration laws.

Section 24(1)(a) A person who is not a British citizen shall be guilty of an offence if he knowingly enters Jersey in breach of a deportation order or without leave.

Section 28A An immigration officer or a police officer may arrest without a warrant a person who has committed or attempted to commit an offence under section 24.

B

The 1971 Act provides at paragraph 10 of Schedule 2 that the Lieutenant-Governor may give directions to any owner or agent of a ship or aircraft to remove an illegal entrant to either:

i)    a country of which he is either a national or citizen; or

ii)   a country or territory in which he has obtained a passport or other document of identity; or

iii)  a country or territory in which he embarked for Jersey; or

iv)  a country or territory to which there is reason to believe that he will be admitted

These provisions are usually relied upon where there is no evidence of which inward carrier was used by the illegal entrant. The cost of removal in these cases is borne by the States of Jersey.

C

The Iranian national detained by the Jersey Customs and Immigration Service on 30 January 2016 has been charged with a criminal offence under immigration laws. This case is currently before the Courts and therefore the Jersey Customs and Immigration Service is unable to offer any further comment as these matters are sub judice.

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