BRITAIN's newly-elected Conservative government plans a dramatic clampdown on immigration in the forthcoming parliament by introducing new laws allowing the courts to seize the earnings of illegal migrants.  

In an unprecedented move, the new legislation which will be introduced by Prime Minister David Cameron in the next Queens Speech, will allow the salaries of illegal workers to be treated as the proceeds of crime. Mr Cameron said the move was necessary because it has become too easy for migrants not entitled to be in the country to exploit loopholes in the system. 

At the moment, firms can be fined up to £20,000 for employing illegal workers but under the new laws, the illegal workers will pay up too as they will be left destitute. This proposal to treat the wages of illegal workers as proceeds of crime form part of what the prime minister says is tougher but fairer approach to immigration that will be adopted by the Conservative government. 

Across the UK, net migration rose to 298,000 in the year to September 2014, well above the levels anticipated by the Conservatives who set a goal before the 2010 election of reducing numbers to less than 100,000. Mr Cameron will see first-hand efforts to combat illegal immigration today when he visits premises in London shortly after it has been raided by immigration officials. 

During the Queens Speech, he will say the government is determined to control and reduce immigration, adding that criminalising illegal workers must go hand-in-hand with other measures to lower demand for migrant labour.  At the moment, migrants with current leave to remain who are working illegally in breach of their conditions may be prosecuted and are liable, if convicted, to a six months' custodial sentence and or an unlimited fine. 

However, migrants who entered the UK illegally or have overstayed their leave are not subject to the same sanctions and the police do not have the same powers of confiscation in all cases. Mr Cameron will say that making Britain a less attractive place to come and work illegally is a crucial part of a fair immigration policy. 

Mr Cameron added: "The truth is it has been too easy to work illegally and employ illegal workers here, so we'll take a radical step and we'll make illegal working a criminal offence in its own right. That means wages paid to illegal migrants will be seized as proceeds of crime and businesses will be told when their workers' visas expire, so if you're involved in illegal working as an employer or employee, you're breaking the law." 

However, lawyer Saira Grant, the director of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, questioned how the new measure would be enforced. She asked if the wages going to be seized retrospectively.