UK Conservative Party Leader, Kemi Badenoch, has announced a sweeping immigration plan that aims to detain and deport 150,000 undocumented migrants every year, a move that could affect many Nigerians living in the UK without legal status.

In a video message posted on her X account on Sunday, Badenoch outlined the Radical Borders Plan, which would create a new Removals Force modeled after the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. The unit would replace the Home Office Immigration Enforcement unit and be granted expanded powers, including the use of facial recognition technology without prior warning to identify and remove undocumented migrants.

“My message is clear: if you’re here illegally, you will be detained and deported,” she wrote in the caption.

Badenoch, who has adopted a hardline stance on immigration, sharply criticized both Conservative and Labour governments for what she described as years of failure to control illegal migration.

“Successive governments have failed on immigration. Labour promised to smash the gangs. Instead, in just a year, they delivered record small boat crossings, over 50,000 illegal arrivals, 32,000 people in asylum hotels, billions wasted. It’s pure weakness. Britain needs a serious, credible plan and the backbone to deliver it,” she said.

The plan would ban asylum claims from illegal entrants, repeal the Human Rights Act, and withdraw the UK from the European Convention on Human Rights. All illegal arrivals would be deported within a week, with legal barriers to mass deportations removed and visa sanctions imposed on countries that refuse to repatriate their citizens.

Badenoch said the new enforcement body would “shut down the asylum hotel racket,” save taxpayers billions, and restore public confidence in border security.

“Only the Conservatives have a serious, credible plan to deliver stronger borders. If you come here illegally, you will be deported,” she said.

Her comments have sparked concern among migrant communities, including Nigerians, many of whom live in the UK without proper documentation.

During a BBC interview with Laura Kuenssberg, Badenoch faced criticism for dismissing questions about where deported migrants would be sent.

“I’m tired of all of these irrelevant questions about where they should go. They will go back to where they should be or another country, but they should not be here,” she replied.

When pressed further, she added, “They will go back to where they came from.”

According to Sky News, the Radical Borders Plan, if approved, would mark one of the most significant overhauls of UK immigration policy in decades, with implications for Nigerian nationals who may be affected by mass deportations.

In August, the UK government vowed to overhaul its asylum system after protests broke out across the country at hotels housing migrants. Asylum seekers who work illegally may be deported or have their claims rejected. Badenoch has said that individuals caught working without permission should be “on the next plane home.”

Those whose asylum claims come through legal visa routes, like students, are increasingly being targeted for alleged misuse of visas to stay via asylum. There’s a plan to crack down on the “back door” use of student and work visas to make asylum claims.

Between 2010 and 2024, 22,619 Nigerian nationals lodged asylum claims in the UK. In 2024 alone, there were 2,841 claims—almost double the number in 2023 (1,462).