Crackdown on ‘illegal work’: Migrant riders caught between the Home Office and the algorithm

On the announcement of the government cracking down on illegal migrant work in the gig economy, Professor Sigona and Dr Piemontese said:  

“The UK government’s recent announcement of a new partnership with major food delivery platforms marks a sharp escalation in its immigration enforcement strategy. Branded as a ‘crackdown on illegal working in the gig economy’, the initiative will see platforms cross-reference rider accounts against lists of asylum accommodation sites and suspend those suspected of account sharing or unauthorised work. 

"On the surface, this may appear as a targeted effort to uphold labour standards. But beneath the policy rhetoric, our new I-CLAIM report shows, lies a growing entanglement of immigration enforcement, platform governance, and algorithmic control —one that our research with migrant food delivery riders in Birmingham has closely documented. 

"Take Ibrahim, a Sudanese migrant who initially arrived on a care worker visa. When the Home Office revoked his sponsor’s licence, he was left with 60 days to find a new employer in the sector. Unable to do so, he began to deliver food using someone else’s app account.  Such ‘substitution’ practices are widespread and structurally embedded in the delivery sector’s self-employment model. However, as Ibrahim has since applied for asylum, while legally resident in the UK, is barred from working while his case is decided.  

"Under Labour, immigration enforcement has changed. Immigration raids are now centred on workplaces.  

"In Birmingham, Labour’s ‘war on illegal work’ has become increasingly visible on the ground during our research. Freedom of Information data obtained from the Immigration Enforcement department (FOI2025 07429) show a marked increase in immigration raids since Labour came to office. In the first nine months of the new government, 349 immigration raids were carried out in the Birmingham postcode area—an increase of 79% from the previous nine-month period under the Tories (195 raids). These raids are unevenly distributed. Two postcode areas (B21 and B26)— which include some of the most ethnically diverse and economically deprived yards in the city. 

"This shift has deeply affected riders’ everyday lives. Gathering points have emptied out. Riders avoid each other. Fear of surveillance is palpable. Police e-bike checks, ostensibly about road safety, routinely turn into immigration stops. Riders told us that they rely on e-bikes to cover longer distances as delivery fees fall—but riding one also makes them more visible to police and more vulnerable to enforcement. 

"Technology offers no protection. If anything, it intensifies the pressure. Platforms monitor performance through opaque algorithms, issue suspensions without notice, and provide no route to appeal. Riders are deactivated without explanation. Others report being blamed by platforms after experiencing abuse or theft. “You just disappear,” one Brazilian rider told us. “The app stops giving you jobs, and you don’t know why.” 

"Solidarity exists—but it’s fragile. Riders help each other learn how to challenge suspensions or avoid police checks. But this support is informal, piecemeal, and uneven. There is no institutional safety net. Fear of deportation, job loss, or destitution hangs in the air. 

"In this hybrid enforcement regime, the Home Office is embedded in apps, algorithms, and police patrols. Migrant riders become hyper-visible to the state yet invisible to the systems meant to protect them. They are ’legal enough’ to serve the economy but not ‘legal enough’ to be safe. As Ibrahim told us, gesturing toward the street: “The Home Office is everyone.”