IN A STARK warning, Bas Javid, Britain's immigration enforcement chief, recently cautioned that consumers using cheap, cash-only services may be unwittingly fuelling modern slavery and illegal immigration networks.
“Part of our job … has to be to educate the wider public that if you do use illegal car washes or go to illegal nail bars then you are feeding the problem, and at the end of that there are victims,” Javid, director general for immigration enforcement at the Home Office, revealed.
“People should recognise that they are contributing to it and if they are, they are feeding the problem.”
Javid commands a £779 million operation with 7,200 staff, targeting businesses that exploit illegal workers. His team has issued £48m in penalties and deported 8,000 failed asylum seekers in 2024 – a record figure.
Yet behind the stern exterior lies a poignant personal narrative.
“I’m very passionate about what we do, partly because I am the son of an immigrant. I am someone who is a product of the benefits that migrating legally to another country can bring,” he told the Times.
“I do take a very balanced, but compassionate view of migration as a broader topic. But within that there are certain aspects that need to be tackled. My job is to focus on illegal migration and returns.”
His story begins in 1961, when his father Abdul Ghani-Javid arrived from Pakistan with just £1 in his pocket. Starting in cotton mills before becoming a bus driver in Rochdale, Abdul and his wife Zubaid raised five sons, including Bas (short for Basit) and his better-known brother, former chancellor Sajid Javid, who also served as home secretary.
Javid began as a helicopter engineer in the Royal Navy in 1988 and took part in Operation Desert Storm. In 1993, he switched to policing, joining Avon and Somerset Police. His 30-year police career culminated in his role as deputy assistant commissioner at the Metropolitan Police before joining the Home Office.
Now, in his most challenging role yet, Javid confronts the realities of illegal migration. Home Office figures released on New Year's Day have showed that 36,816 people crossed the English Channel in small boats throughout 2024, surpassing 2023’s figure of 29,437.
However, he highlights a crucial misconception: “A lot of people who come into the UK who end up being here illegally, the large majority arrive through legal routes,” Javid noted.
He has taken a firm stance against businesses employing illegal workers, making it clear that enforcement is ramping up. “I’ve seen people smuggled inside panels of cars and in small spaces in the back of vans and lorries,” he has said. “Some of these people die [before they arrive].”
Outside work, Javid maintains varied interests including motorcycling, aviation, exercise and cooking. The single father of two adult children also holds academic credentials in criminology and has served on the Board of Governors at Sandwell College.
