§ Mr. McCabeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on co-operation between different Government agencies to(a) track down and (b) deport illegal immigrants. [100615]
§ Mrs. RocheStaff in the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND), including the Immigration Service (IS), work in co-operation with many other government agencies as appropriate, including the police, Benefits Agency and Contributions Agency, in detecting those who are suspected of being illegal immigrants or facilitating illegal entry. This liaison is allowed for under section 28(3) of the Data Protection Act 1994 which provides for the exchange of information where this is necessary to prevent or detect a crime.
The responsibility for deciding whether an illegal immigrant should be deported or otherwise removed rests with IND. No other government agencies are involved in this decision.