Inspecting the UK immigration system

Thursday 11 June 2026, 3.45pm
On Zoom and in The Mawby Room, Kellogg College

John Tuckett (Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration (ICIBI))

The UK's Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration (ICIBI) monitors and reports on the efficiency and effectiveness of the UK's immigration, asylum, nationality and customs functions. In this talk, Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration John Tuckett discusses his efforts to make the inspection of the UK immigration system a positive learning experience for all - a complex task with such a vast range of both human and logistical challenges to assess and consider.

Zoom registration link: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/edkbEpl7TZe8Py4iA_QS7A

COMPAS Seminar Series Trinity Term 2026

Theme: ‘Immigration Enforcement in Practice’

Convened by Rob McNeil, Deputy Director, Migration Observatory.

These seminars will take place at 3.45pm on Thursdays of Weeks 2, 3, 4 and 7. Weeks 2, 4 and 7 are in the Mawby Room at Kellogg College; Week 3  is in the Investcorp Lecture Theatre, St Antony's College. All (except for Week 3) are hybrid with individual Zoom registration links. No registration is required to attend in person (except for Week 3).

Migration scholars and activists are often highly critical of border regimes and enforcement practices, while political parties and governments often feel the need to make bold promises of “smashing gangs”, stopping unauthorised border crossings or enacting deterrent policies.

Media reports and policymakers commonly centre these discussions on either abstract political and legal debates or emotive humanitarian stories.

Those charged with enforcing immigration policies or scrutinising their actions face a challenging task in upholding domestic political decisions and international law.

This seminar series aims to explore the process of immigration enforcement from the point of view of those charged with enacting it in the UK and the EU, while also looking at the radical shifts that have occurred in immigration enforcement practices in the USA in the first year of the second Trump administration.

Attendance is free. To join online, registration is essential.