A study into the potential consequences of the government’s proposed future immigration system has revealed that illegal immigration could rise due to increased entry restrictions. The paper draws on recent history to validate its claims, which include warnings to policymakers of increasingly illegal immigration populations after Brexit. The Social Market Foundation (SMF), who conducted the study, concluded that ‘politicians promoting Brexit as a way to answer public anxieties over migration should be honest with voters about the likely consequences of ending free movement, to avoid a future political backlash over immigration’.The SMF has four key lessons for UK policymakers within the report:• greater immigration restrictions on well-established existing immigration flows could result in an increased permanent lawful immigrant population• greater immigration restrictions applied to well-established existing immigration flows can lead to increased irregular ‘migrant entry’
• greater immigration restrictions applied to well-established existing immigration flows can lead to increased irregular ‘immigrant stay’, and therefore an increased irregular immigrant population
• an increasingly visible irregular immigrant population accompanied by increased immigration enforcement can give rise to greater public concern over immigration even if overall immigrant flows are reducing
Source: Back to the future—What history tells us about the challenges of post-Brexit UK immigration Policy
