Two illegal immigrants will be removed from the country after being arrested in raids at Bradford business premises.
The swoops by Home Office Immigration Enforcement Officers this week were the latest in a series across the district in the last 12 months as a major crackdown continues.
Earlier this month, five illegal workers were arrested at a Bradford supermarket in an immigration raid following a tip off.
And in February, immigration officers had to crawl on their hands and knees to detain an illegal worker hiding under the floorboards at a Bradford fashion shop.
In the latest raids, on Thursday, two Pakistani-born men were detained.
The first, involving nine immigration officers, took place at 10am at the premises of Springmill Tyres, in Springmill Street, West Bowling, a tyre-fitting centre.
A 33-year-old man was found to be in breach of his work visa conditions and was arrested.
A Home Office spokesman said the man had a work permit, but was not working at the place named on the permit. That business is believed to be closed down.
The second swoop happened just over an hour later at Sabir Hairdressers, in Whetley Lane, Girlington, and involved eight immigration officers. A 31-year-old Pakistani man, who had overstayed his visa, was working there.
The Home Office spokesman said the man arrested was not working at the time, but found to be living in the accommodation above the shop. The man pretended to be asleep when officers knocked on the bedroom door, but they entered and he was arrested.
Both men have been detained in immigration detention pending removal from the UK.
Springmill Tyres and Sabir Hairdressers have both been served with a Notice of Potential Liability. This gives both businesses a maximum of three weeks to provide proof that correct checks were carried out on the person’s working there.
If they fail to do so the border authorities could begin legal proceedings which may result in fines of up to £10,000.
Ian Milner, of the Home Office’s Yorkshire Immigration Enforcement Team, said: “Illegal working is not victimless. It undercuts honest employers, defrauds the taxpayer and often exploits some of society’s most vulnerable people.
“Employers who choose to use illegal labour also deprive legitimate job seekers of vital opportunities to work.
“We have teams of highly trained, dedicated officers who will continue to hunt down anyone using illegal labour.
“Our message is clear. If you are an employer using illegal labour, expect us to pay a visit and be prepared to pay a heavy penalty.
“We would urge anyone with specific and detailed information about suspected illegal working to get in touch.”
In February, a 24-year-old man, found hiding under the floorboards at Janan Clothing in Shearbridge Road, was arrested following allegations that a security guard was working there illegally.
Only last week, five illegal workers, from Bangladesh, Pakistan and India, were arrested and faced deportation for overstaying their visas after they were found to be working at the Al Falaah supermarket in Mananingham Lane.
Zulfiqar Ahmed, the director of Springmill Tyres, said that the person taken by officials was on a week’s trial and had not been paid.
“He was on a week’s trial until this weekend,” he said. “If we were going to employ him from next Monday we would have asked him to bring his ID card, passport and National Insurance number but we were not going to keep him on.”
The Telegraph & Argus approached Sabir Hairdressers for comment, but noone was available at the time of going to press.
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