Illegal immigrants arrested in raids
A night club in Leeds has been served with a civil penalty notice for employing illegal workers when a Jamaican who overstayed her visa and a failed asylum seeker from Nigeria were found when 26 door staff were checked at 13 premises during raids in Leeds, which involved the UK Border Agency for the first time. Jeremy Oppenheim, regional director for the UK Border Agency in the North East, Yorkshire and the Humber, said: "This successful operation demonstrates the value of working alongside other enforcement bodies to combat those that would seek to violate our laws – be they immigration, criminal or public order offences - "Let this be an important reminder to those employers who employ illegal workers – we will not tolerate illegal working.” All door staff have to be licensed by the Security Industry Authority, which means they have been checked through the Criminals Records Bureau and have undertaken an accredited training course. Richard Brett from Leeds City Council's executive board member for licensing, said: "I'm pleased that this sweep has worked well – working together with the police and immigration means we can be much more effective, and it is definitely something we will do again.” In response to the news Richard Connelly of Agenda Security Services said “It is more important than ever for organisations to check the right to work and immigration status of employees, simply photocopying documents is not enough and you must always ensure that you check both the duration of any visa and also the number of permissible working hours if stipulated”.
Agenda offers a number of low cost and quick checks to help to protect organisations, for a copy of our menu of screening services for 2010 contact us on info@agenda-security.co.uk