More countries added to UK’s ‘deport first’ scheme for foreign criminals

‘The real danger is you’re giving a green light to foreign national offenders,’ says the former justice secretary Alex Chalk. Photograph: Graeme Robertson/The Guardian

Foreign criminals from 15 more countries face deportation before they have a chance to appeal in an expansion of the UK government’s “deport first, appeal later” scheme.

Ministers are extending the scheme, which applies in England and Wales and was restarted in 2023, to cover 23 countries including India, Bulgaria, Australia and Canada.