A man working in Dover for the UK Border Force was arrested by police on suspicion of immigration offences. Home Office officials are believed to have taken swift action against the individual as soon as concerns over his legal status were raised.
But speaking to The Sun, a source said: “Allowing an alleged illegal migrant to infiltrate the ranks of your border agency is pretty embarrassing.
“With the eyes of the whole country on Border Force at the moment, this is the last thing they need.”
The man, believed to be in his 30s, is accused of lying about his country of origin in paperwork to stay in the UK.
He is believed to have arrived in the UK about 20 years ago from the Balkans.
A UK Border Force officer was arrested on suspicion of immigration offences (Image: Getty)
More than 45,000 migrants crossed the English Channel this year (Image: Getty)
The scandal comes as over 45,000 migrants crossed the English Channel this year.
Official figures showed that 90 people made the dangerous journey from France on two small boats on Christmas Day.
Rishi Sunak has promised legislation in the new year to help tackle the problem by making sure that if someone enters the UK illegally they do not have the right to stay in the country.
Ministers are also working to tighten immigration rules to curb numbers coming to the country legally.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman has drawn up a plan that would target foreign students, make it harder to bring spouses to the UK, and increase the minimum salaries for companies employing skilled workers, The Times reported.
The UK Government is also urging Berlin to clamp down on criminal organisations profiting from the trafficking of migrants to the UK thanks to German “deficient” laws.
Legal loopholes in German legislation are allowing smuggling gangs to run Channel operations from Berlin by crossing into France on trucks with German plates.
“We’re having real problems with the German authorities”, law enforcement told The Sun.
They added: “There’s seemingly little appetite to tackle the gangs and legally there are limitations to what they can do because their laws are deficient in this area.”
A Home Office spokesman said: “We work extremely closely with Germany and other international partners on this issue, and have excellent operational collaboration with German law enforcement and agencies.
“The Home Secretary discussed how to improve cooperation to tackle illegal immigration across Europe and bring people smugglers to justice with her German counterpart at a recent meeting of the Calais Group.”
