Bail plan for illegal immigrants
Immigration officer
It costs about £11,000 to remove someone from the UK

Illegal immigrants will be given the option of paying a "bail bond" to avoid being sent to a detention centre, under Home Office plans.

Immigration Minister Liam Byrne said the "immigration bail" would allow foreigners to pay a large amount of money while they awaited deportation.

The cash would be held by the Home Secretary and forfeited if the immigrant breached their bail.

Removing an immigrant from the country costs the taxpayer about £11,000.

The draft Immigration and Citizenship Bill suggests illegal immigrants could even be tagged, rather than being sent to an immigration detention centre.

Police force support

Those who have been deported could be allowed back into the UK, after a period of exclusion, if they agree to refund the cost of their original deportation.

The Home Office also unveiled details of a fund which will be raised from a levy on fees paid by foreigners who want to become British citizens.

The fund is expected to raise "tens of millions of pounds" and will be available to police forces, schools, councils and local health services which find they are hit with extra costs because of the short-term pressures of migration on their areas, a spokeswoman said.

The levy is expected to be paid gradually as immigrants who UK citizenship apply for temporary residence, probationary citizenship and full citizenship.

The fund, which is due to open next April, will be handed to regional government offices for distribution to areas which need it most, the spokeswoman said.

Mr Byrne said: "Britain is not anti-foreigner, we're a welcoming, tolerant place, but we do expect newcomers to sign up to a deal if they want to stay and build a life in Britain."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7506089.stm