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Seven arrested at Southall engineering firm
30 January 2012
Seven people have been arrested following a UK Border Agency raid on an engineering firm in Southall.
Acting on intelligence, officers visited MAC RK Precision Engineering Ltd on the Bridge Road industrial estate on Thursday 26 January, to question staff about their right to work in the UK.
Of the 20 staff on site, 7 were arrested for immigration offences: 4 Pakistani men, 2 Indian men and an Indian woman.
Five were working in breach of their visa conditions, whilst 2 were in the country illegally having overstayed their visas.
All 7 people are now in detention and awaiting their removal from the UK.
Their employer could now face a fine of up to £70,000 - up to £10,000 per illegal worker - unless proof is provided to the UK Border Agency that the correct right-to-work checks were carried out.
Chief immigration officer Alex Legg, who led the operation, said:
'Where we find people who are in the UK illegally we will seek to remove them.
'But we are also looking to target the employers who take on illegal workers and fuel illegal immigration.
'We're happy to work with businesses to let them know what checks need to be done on staff, but those who choose to break the law should know that we are out there looking for them and they will face heavy fines.'
Every year, the UK Border Agency imposes civil penalties on hundreds of companies which fail to carry out proper right-to-work checks on staff.