What was claimed
The government has detained and removed over 35,000 people with no right to be here.
Our verdict
This is misleading. While there were around 35,000 immigration returns during Labour’s first year in government, most were not detained or forcibly removed. Government data shows that only around a quarter of these departures were “enforced” returns.
In a recent post on X the home secretary Shabana Mahmood MP claimed that the government “has detained and removed over 35,000 people with no right to be here”.
The post included footage showing several people being escorted onto buses or aircraft by what appear to be immigration enforcement officers.
However, this is misleading, based on the government’s own data, which shows the majority of those included in this figure were not both “detained and removed”, but instead left the UK voluntarily—in some cases without the government’s involvement or knowledge.
According to Home Office statistics, just over 35,000 immigration returns took place during Labour’s first year in government (5 July 2024 to 4 July 2025). But only 9,115 of these were “enforced returns”—the category of return which includes people who were removed from detention.
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The remaining 25,937 were “voluntary returns”, meaning people who were liable for removal or under immigration control but left the UK of their own accord, sometimes with Home Office support. This category also includes “other verified returns”—people who left the UK without informing the Home Office.
Some people who have been detained can subsequently apply to voluntarily leave the UK, in which case they may be granted immigration bail ahead of their departure. People who agree to leave voluntarily from detention are included under “enforced returns”, according to the Home Office.
We don’t know exactly how many of the returns carried out between 5 July 2024 and 4 July 2025 were from detention, but Home Office data shows that in the year ending June 2025 (broadly though not entirely overlapping Labour’s first year in office) there were a total of 5,782 enforced removals from detention and 2,833 other returns from detention.
When we spoke to the Home Office, they denied the claim was misleading. We have written to the department to ask for further clarification, and will update this article should we receive a response.
We have previously written about instances of government ministers including members of the cabinet conflating the number of immigration deportations with the total number of returns.
Claims about immigration enforcement can influence public understanding of government policy and its effectiveness. MPs should use official statistics transparently and provide the necessary context when making claims.
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