Deportations from the USA to the UK: What does this look like for those supported by Prisoners Abroad?

PRESS RELEASE

There has been a lot of media coverage lately with a focus on deportation, stemming initially from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in the USA. Prisoners Abroad’s resettlement service was launched in 1998, so we are well-versed with the issues that stem from a deportation, and while we are concerned about the increasing numbers, we are pleased to see the theme now being discussed more widely. 

What is the role of Prisoners Abroad in a deportation? 

Prisoners Abroad works with British citizens who are deported to the UK after serving a prison sentence overseas. Our remit is to support with access to housing, healthcare, receipt of welfare benefits and pensions, and to provide specialist training and employment services, as well as signposting to other organisations. Critically, a resettlement begins whilst people are still in prison, when we gather needs assessment data to understand the level of assistance people will require on return and help manage expectations of this trajectory, which we know can be very challenging.  

A growing trend 

Over the past few years, the number of people being deported to the UK has grown – particularly from the USA. Between 2017 and 2021 we saw a significant increase in the number of British people who were deported from the USA after spending many years living in the country. Resettlement cases from the USA peaked for us at an all-time high in 2018-19, with 70 people deported.  

Worryingly, over the last year we have seen a pattern of short-notice deportations from the USA after people have been transferred to ICE detention centres. We know that more people are being detained by ICE than before and many are being held for visa offences. Due to this increase, there have been direct effects on the ability of those who need it to access our support. We hear that vital identity and medical documents might not get transferred when people are moved to ICE facilities at the last minute – or are transferred between facilities – so people are forced to return to the UK without them and this impacts their ability to access even basic services once in the UK. In some instances, people are processed through ICE so quickly that we aren’t able to make contact with them in the prison system, which significantly impacts the support we are able to provide to someone when they arrive in the UK.  

In the news 

We spoke to the Telegraph a few weeks ago about our work supporting people on return to the UK, and discussed with them the increase in cases we have been seeing since April, while explaining that last minute deportations leave people even more vulnerable than usual – arriving late at night when many services are closed and into a system that might not be expecting them.  

The Telegraph published an interesting graph which detailed the ICE arrests and detentions resulting in deportation to the UK per month between September 1, 2023, and October 15, 2025, and shows figures doubling: in July 2024 there were 9 people deported, and in July 2025 there were 46.  

What next? 

From our frontline experience, we know there are growing numbers of people who spend long periods in ICE detention centres awaiting deportation in poor conditions. Our focus is trying to strengthen links so that we understand who is there and needs our support, so that we can also best support them to prepare for arriving in the UK. 

More broadly, Prisoners Abroad believes deportations are the wrong answer. For people serving lengthy prison sentences, instead of waiting until the end of the sentence before deporting them we support the transfer of British people from prisons in the USA to UK prisons to finish the remainder of their sentence. 

Last year, 50% of all our resettlement cases were aged 55 or over. Many people we support have grown up in other countries and have not set foot in the UK for decades, so being deported after release from prison can be devastating. Many people leave families, jobs, houses – whole lives – behind.  

There is no statutory provision in place to support someone who has been in prison overseas once they arrive in the UK. This means there is no financial support, food, short term accommodation, or help accessing services and reintegrating into society. We are the only organisation helping this group of people in this way.  

We believe that people returning from a prison sentence abroad should be able to receive voluntary probation support for a minimum of 12 months on return, to support rehabilitation, reduce offending, and ensure a smoother transition back into the community.  

We also believe those who do not want to be deported (because they have family connections to their country of imprisonment and do not consider the UK their home) should be allowed to remain in the country upon release. You can learn more about our stance here. 

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