Tony Eastaugh to head immigration enforcement

HOME SECRETARY Priti Patel has appointed former counter-terror police chief as the head of immigration enforcement after Channel migrant crossings hit new daily high, reported The Telegraph.

Tony Eastaugh has been appointed as the new "interim" director general of immigration enforcement.

Eastaugh will replace Tyson Hepple, who has spent nearly all of his career in the Home Office, The Telegraph report added.

According to reports, Channel migrant crossings reached a new daily record of 828 on Saturday (21).

All four of the most senior civil servants who headed immigration enforcement and Border Force are leaving the Home Office.

The newspaper report said that along with Eastaugh, two former senior chief constables are also being canvassed for the new "supremo" role.

They are Paul Crowther, who headed British Transport Police, and Gareth Wilson, deputy chief constable for the ministry of defence police and a former chief constable of Suffolk.

The number of Channel migrants stood at a record 12,500 this year – up from 8,400 for the whole of last year. Besides, questions are being raised over the effectiveness of handing France another £54 million of government cash to try to prevent crossings.

Patel is also pushing through new laws that will deny illegal migrants the right to settle in the UK even if they are granted asylum, give Border Force powers to turn back migrants' boats and establish processing centres for thousands of migrants in the UK and potentially abroad.

Tory MPs and former Border Force chiefs have told the government that ending migrant crossings will only be achieved if France agrees to take back migrants turned back in the Channel or even on the English coast.

According to the report, Eastaugh completed a military leadership course at the Royal College of Defence Studies last month. He was a commander in the Metropolitan Police, worked on the national major disaster teams and spoke for the Association of Chief Police Officers on stop and search.

He has been operational director for immigration enforcement following a secondment from the police, leading crackdowns on illegal migrants, the report further said.