A Donald Trump-style mass deportation programme could save the UK £10 billion a year, a new report has claimed. The Centre for Migration Control and former Reform UK MP Rupert Lowe urged ministers to deport up to 400,000 migrants every year.

And they insisted the Home Office must create 15,000 detention spaces – a seven-fold increase from the current capacity of 2,200 – and dramatically increase immigration enforcement teams to restore control of Britain’s borders.

Robert Bates, from the Centre for Migration Control, and Mr Lowe argued in a new research paper that vast numbers of people “support the removal of all illegal migrants and it is a policy that is in the national interest”.

And they called for a host of returns agreements, with severe penalties such as barring people from certain visas, if countries refuse to take illegal migrants back.

The research paper revealed three out of four Channel migrant arrivals in 2024 came from countries which the UK does not have a deportation deal with.

Robert Bates, of the Centre for Migration Control, said: “It’s time for a national discussion on how a serious and effective programme of deportations would actually work.

“The country is broken at the moment.

“We simply cannot afford to support the large illegal migrant population that are putting huge strain on public services.

“And nor should we have to. These people are in our country without permission and pose a threat to the security of the British public. They must be removed.”

Former Reform UK MP Rupert Lowe – who clashed with Nigel Farage over deportations - said: “This valuable research shows that the mass deportation of illegal migrants is not just morally necessary but would also bring enormous financial benefits for the British people.

“Removing those with no right to be here must be the ultimate objective, regardless of the logistical challenges. This blueprint shows a clear, and fully costed, route to doing what needs to be done. I look forward to presenting this to the Home Office.

“Officials may be surprised to see, in detail, the undeniable financial logic of deporting all illegal migrants. We have proved that it can be done. Now, it must be done."

Channel migrants staying in taxpayer-funded asylum accommodation should be prioritised for deportation in the first year of such a scheme, the research suggests.

By the second year, enforced returns – where migrants are told they must leave – should hit 100,000, while there should be 200,000 voluntary returns.

Within another 12 months, these numbers should increase to 150,000 and 250,000.

Mr Bates and Mr Lowe predicted the tough stance could cost around £47.5 billion in its first five years.

But they argued the illegal migrant population costs taxpayers £4.78bn every year – and by removing people from taxpayer-funded hotels and accommodation, for example, it could save another £5bn.

Over the course of 10 years, after the huge initial outlay in the first five years, costs could begin to fall because the size of the illegal migrant population has fallen.

The report authors added: “In 2024 of the 43,630 illegal migrants detected entering the UK, 33,039 (75%) came from a country with which there was no returns agreement, formal or informal. It is therefore essential that countries of origin are persuaded, forcefully if required, to adopt a Readmission Treaty with the UK - as Albania has recently done.”

They called for the Home Office to budget up to £1.5bn – double what was spent on the Rwanda deportation scheme – for third country removal schemes. The deal with Kigali cost more than £700 million.

Mr Bates and Mr Lowe also called for a suspension of every asylum claim by an illegal migrant and a “five-year-freeze on future asylum claims”.

It comes as the Home Office confirmed more than 11,000 migrants have crossed the Channel - just days after arrivals passed 10,000 in record time.

Some 294 people made the journey in five boats on Wednesday, bringing the provisional total for the year to date to 11,074, according to the latest Home Office data.

This comes after 473 migrants arrived on Monday, which brought the cumulative total for 2025 to 10,358. Crossings continued on Tuesday.

It is the earliest point in the calendar year the 10,000 milestone has been reached.

Last year, the figure of 10,000 was not reached until May 24, while in 2023 it was June 17.

For 11,000, that number of arrivals was not reached until June 6 last year, and it was June 23 in 2023.

The current total for 2025 - 11,074 - is up 46% on the number recorded at this point last year (7,567) and 86% higher than the same point in 2023 (5,946)