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Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill [HL]

When the Minister responds to us, perhaps he could consider the case that I mentioned where illegal entrants may be detained by the police for a short period while they are awaiting transfer to the custody of an immigration officer. I remember one case where a woman who had nowhere to go was found wandering on the road. She was taken into custody by the police, who discovered that she was an illegal entrant. Subsequently, they handed her over to the Immigration Service. There are therefore cases where the police are forced to hold persons who are subject to immigration control pending the arrival of an immigration officer to take them to some more permanent location. It is in those cases where the police cell acts, in the ordinary meaning of the English language, as a short-term holding facility, although it may not be defined as such under the Immigration and Asylum Act. I was trying to satisfy myself that the same provisions that would apply to a short-term holding facility would apply to the police under those circumstances.