Reform’s ‘ICE’ plan would wreck the NHS and bring terror to Wales, says Plaid Cymru

Martin Shipton

Reform UK’s plan to scrap the migrant status of Indefinite Leave to Remain would wreck the NHS and introduce Trump-style terror to the streets of Wales, according to Plaid Cymru.

Reform’s Home Office spokesman Zia Yusuf has claimed that the introduction of an ICE-type detention and deportation force in the UK would not lead to the violence and chaos seen in UK cities.

But Plaid’s spokesperson on Social Justice, Sioned Williams MS, said: “Reform’s plans to scrap Indefinite Leave to Remain serves as a reminder of the threat they pose to communities and public services in Wales. These proposals would see our neighbours deported and our communities ripped apart. It would also threaten many hardworking staff that are the backbone of our NHS – risking the worsening of a staffing crisis that is already letting staff and patients down.

“To make matters worse, they say they will take inspiration from Trump’s ICE – an organisation infamous for causing chaos and terror on the streets of the USA. To take inspiration from such an organisation is not only dangerous – it’s immoral.

“One way to protect Welsh communities from Reform’s divisive policies, as Plaid have long argued, is to ensure decisions about Welsh justice and policing are made here in Wales through the transfer of powers to the Welsh Government.

“In Wales, only two parties are in the running to form the next government on May 7 – Plaid Cymru or Reform. A vote for Plaid Cymru is a vote to reject the division of Reform UK and to build a better future for Wales with real plans to support communities.”

Announcing the policy, Yusuf claimed it was “not true” that the party’s plans for a UK Deportation Command will face the same issues as Trump’s body, which saw an immigration crackdown in Minnesota lead to mass detentions, protests and two deaths.

Deport

Under a Reform government, the party claimed they would set up the unit to “track down, detain and deport” people in the country illegally, aiming for up to 288,000 people each year.

Mr Yusuf said it was “very tempting” and “somewhat inevitable” for people to make the comparison between Reform’s model and the US, but said the UK does not have the same problems with firearms and policing is “much more” done by consent.

Speaking at a press conference in Dover, he said: “So you know this notion that we’re going to have the same issues that come sharply into focus internationally as a result of Trump’s Ice programme – it’s just not true, we would not expect UK Deportation Command to carry weapons. It’s not going to be the case.”

Yusuf added: “But I also want to be clear that if you’re in this country illegally, they will detect you and they will detain you and they’ll deport you.

“If your question is: are we going to have the kind of situation that we saw in Minnesota in Britain as a result of our deportation programme? No.”

Discrimination

Amnesty International UK also warned the UK does not “need or want” a British version of ICE and such proposals to mirror the US “risk unleashing a system built on fear, aggressive raids and discrimination, where enforcement operates with sweeping powers and little accountability.”

In Dover, Yusuf said the UK was being “invaded” by migrants as he pitched Reform’s mass deportation programme as the biggest in UK history.

The party has also said it will impose “visa freezes” on Pakistan, Afghanistan and Syria if the countries refuse to take back migrants with no legal right to stay in Britain.

Reform has said it would expect to deport more than 600,000 in its first term in government.

Defending his choice of language, Yusuf told a press conference in Dover: “I know many in the establishment gasp at that word. They may well clutch their pearls in the television studios, but the dictionary definition of invasion is an incursion by a large number of people in an unwanted way.

“Make no mistake, as home secretary I will end and indeed reverse this invasion, because the patience of the British people is now exhausted.”