Antrim nail bar among businesses targeted as ICE teams crack down on illegal working in NI

Immigration officers have carried out more than 100 visits targeting suspected illegal working across Northern Ireland in the first half of 2026, resulting in 123 arrests as enforcement activity reaches record levels.

New Home Office figures show released today, Friday, August 6, Northern Ireland Immigration Compliance and Enforcement (ICE) teams carried out 103 visits across Northern Ireland during the first six months of the year — a 43% increase — while arrests rose by 16%.

The operations have targeted businesses across a range of sectors, including beauty, delivery and warehousing, with enforcement action also taking place at car dealerships, nail bars and takeaways.

One operation in Antrim resulted in two people being identified as suspected illegal workers, while officers also discovered around £4,000 in cash, cannabis and a knife.

Antrim nail bar targeted

The Home Office said Immigration Enforcement officers visited a nail bar in Antrim on 20 March, where two people were identified as suspected of working illegally.

During a search, officers found a travel document, approximately £4,000 in cash, an amount of cannabis and a knife.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland was contacted and officers attended the premises. According to the Home Office, police seized the cash and knife and destroyed the cannabis.

The owner of the business was issued with a Civil Penalty Referral Notice.

Such a notice is not itself a finding that an employer has committed an offence or is liable for a penalty. It begins the Home Office civil penalty consideration process in cases where illegal working is suspected.

Eight immigration offenders identified during linked operation

The figures also include an operation on 9 March, when Northern Ireland Immigration Compliance and Enforcement (ICE) officers simultaneously visited a car dealership and a linked residential address.

At the dealership, officers identified one person suspected of working illegally and served the business owner with a Civil Penalty Referral Notice.

At the residential address, officers identified a further seven people described by the Home Office as immigration offenders who had overstayed their previous permission to remain in the UK.

A further operation on 17 May involved visits to three takeaways in what the Home Office described only as a region that was difficult to plan enforcement visits for because of its location.

Civil Penalty Referral Notices were served on the owners of all three businesses.

The Home Office said the action involved people who had overstayed their immigration permission and were suspected of working illegally, as well as a man suspected of working in breach of his immigration bail conditions.

UK enforcement reaches record level

The increase in Northern Ireland forms part of a much wider expansion of illegal working enforcement across the UK.

Between January and June 2026, Immigration Enforcement carried out 7,270 visits nationally — 31% more than during the same period in 2025.

Those operations resulted in 4,756 arrests, an increase of 20%.

The Home Office describes the first half of 2026 as the most successful six-month period for illegal working enforcement on record.

Since July 2024, almost 25,000 enforcement visits have been carried out and more than 17,000 arrests made. The Government says those figures represent increases of 111% and 122% respectively compared with the previous two-year period.

Among people arrested for illegal working since July 2024, 2,357 have subsequently been returned to their home countries — a 50% increase, according to the Home Office.

The latest figures also follow a week-long operation against organised immigration crime in June involving Immigration Enforcement and 39 police forces.

More than 900 businesses were visited during that operation, resulting in 269 immigration-related arrests. The Home Office said 57 of those arrested were linked to small boat arrivals.

‘Rogue employers have nowhere to hide’

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the increased activity was intended to protect workers and businesses operating legally.

She said:

“Illegal working undercuts honest workers and legal businesses.

“This government has put more resources into Immigration Enforcement to crack down on it.

“This surge in enforcement activity takes us to the highest level in British history. Illegal workers and rogue employers have nowhere to hide.”

Paul McHarron, Immigration Enforcement and Compliance Lead for Northern Ireland, said operations would continue across the region.

He said:

“Our enforcement activity continues day in, day out, across Northern Ireland.

“We want our communities to know we are cracking down on this illegal activity and ensuring businesses play by the rules.”

New checks for gig economy businesses from October

The enforcement figures come ahead of changes which the Government says will extend right-to-work requirements to parts of the economy where businesses currently have less responsibility for checking immigration status.

From October, companies hiring gig economy and zero-hours workers — including businesses operating in the delivery sector — will be legally required to check that anyone working in their name has the right to work in the UK.

Employers who fail to comply could face substantial sanctions.

The Home Office says these can include civil penalties of up to £60,000 per worker, director disqualification and, in the most serious cases, potential prison sentences of up to five years.

The Government also plans to double the Immigration Enforcement budget by 2028/29 and increase workforce numbers by 60%, which it says will enable tens of thousands more enforcement visits, arrests and removals.

According to the Home Office, by the end of March 2026 almost 70,000 people with no right to remain in the UK, including foreign national offenders, had been removed or deported since the General Election — 41% more than during the comparable period cited by the Government.

For businesses in Northern Ireland, the figures signal both increased enforcement now and wider responsibilities from October, when companies using gig economy and zero-hours workers will need to ensure right-to-work checks are carried out or potentially face significant financial and legal consequences.