Illegal immigrants in town care professions (From This Is Wiltshire)

FOUR workers in Swindon’s nursing and care home sector were found to be in the country illegally last year, according to information obtained by the Adver.

The employees were among eight people caught for immigration offences by the UK Border Agency.

The new details follow raids last month which included a training event being targeted and resulted in three care workers being removed from the UK.

Another three men not working in the sector were arrested by the UKBA earlier this month.

The other foreign nationals caught last year were employed at a car wash, at a restaurant or takeaway, in a small shop and as staff for an employment agency.

Three were found to have entered the country illegally, three had overstayed, one should have been in a detention centre, and another offence was classed as “other”.

Four were removed from the country according to information released by the Home Office, after a Freedom of Information request by the Adver.

In 2010, four people were caught working illegally, all in restaurants or takeaways, resulting in two people being deported.

A series of immigration raids have taken place in Swindon in recent months. Two men were found hiding in a cupboard at Mela, an Asian restaurant in Old Town. The 31-year-old and 34-year-old, both from Bangladesh, were arrested after checks found they were working illegally. The UK Border Agency also arrested a 24-year-old Pakistani man whose visa had expired at a separate location in the town.

Matthew Gregory, of the UKBA, said: “We carry out frequent operations in Swindon and Wiltshire and immigration offenders should know that they have nowhere to hide. Our message to people who are in the UK illegally is that they must leave. Where we find people who are in the UK illegally, we will seek to remove them.

“We are determined to crack down on offenders and are sending a simple, clear message to people who are here illegally — more raids are planned and you will be caught.”