Britain has everything we need to stop small boats - but passing laws is easier than real solutions

The political debate that follows is familiar. Calls for tougher laws. Demands for stronger enforcement. Fresh questions over whether the Government has the powers it needs to regain control of Britain's borders.

But in my view, that debate starts in the wrong place.

In the months leading up to the 2024 US Presidential election, American media was saturated with images and headlines showing record numbers of people crossing the US-Mexico border illegally. These stories were often framed around claims that illegal immigration was driving rises in violent and drug-related crime, helping to cement a belief among more than 65% of Americans that the border needed to be closed. It was a sentiment that almost certainly contributed to President Trump's re-election victory.

Within weeks of returning to office, the Trump administration was claiming that illegal border crossings had effectively fallen to zero. A feat allegedly achieved despite no new laws being put on the United States' books.

The same principle applies in Britain today. The UK already possesses legal mechanisms that could support a tougher approach to illegal migration. The challenge is building sufficient public and political support for how and if to use them. Until there is agreement on the trade-offs that come with meaningful deterrence, governments will continue to struggle to address the problem effectively.

That is particularly evident because this is not a new challenge. Governments of all political persuasions have spent years trying different approaches. Some have focused on stronger enforcement. Others have prioritised asylum reform, international cooperation or efforts to tackle migration at its source. Yet despite repeated policy announcements, small boats remain a fixture of Britain's political conversation.

Unlike many countries, the UK is an island nation with hundreds of miles of coastline. Simply deploying more personnel to known landing sites is unlikely to provide a lasting solution. Smuggling networks adapt, routes change, and boats land elsewhere.

Trying to physically seal Britain's coastline would be enormously expensive and, in practical terms, impossible. If Britain cannot significantly mitigate crossings at the coastline, the question that emerges is why do people continue to make these journeys in the first place?

At its heart, most migration is an intentional and individualised decision driven by a balancing of incentives and disincentives. People weigh the risks of leaving their home country and embarking on a dangerous journey against the opportunities and security they believe await them elsewhere. As long as that calculation remains favourable, people will keep making the journeys.

That is why a successful strategy must tackle both sides of the equation. First, the UK should consider how to reduce incentives to enter illegally. That could include stricter catch-and-return policies, reforms to benefits and entitlements, changes to family reunification rules, or clearer distinctions between economic migration and genuine asylum claims.

Second, governments must also address the pressures that drive people to leave home in the first place. Earlier in my career, I worked with civil society groups to reduce migration flows from Central America to the United States by increasing investment and economic opportunity in countries that accounted for the majority of illegal migration to the United States: Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. We worked with the respective governments to invest in these areas and improve local conditions, so fewer people felt compelled to undertake dangerous journeys north.

These approaches can work, but they require significant resources and long-term commitment. Yet in recent years, Governments have reduced international development spending, making it harder to address some of the conditions that drive migration at its source.

The reality is that no single solution exists. Sustainable migration policy requires both reducing the incentives to enter illegally and reducing the pressures that encourage people to leave. Either one alone is unlikely to succeed.

The UK already possesses legal mechanisms that could support a tougher approach to illegal migration. The challenge is building sufficient public and political support to use them and explaining how tackling the illegal immigration problem will also help address larger domestic issues.

At present, Britain remains divided over both the scale of the problem and the appropriate response. Until a broader consensus emerges, meaningful reform will remain difficult regardless of which party is in power.

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Cameron Ashouripour is a Partner at Rosenblatt Law and a dual-qualified US and UK lawyer.

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