European Lawmakers Vote for Greater Powers to Deport Illegal Immigrants

According to data, the number of irregular border crossings at the EU’s external borders in 2025 stood at more than 178,000, a 26 percent decline from 2024.

Migrants trying to reach Britain walk on a beach shore in Gravelines, France, on March 18, 2026. AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias

European Union lawmakers have voted for increased powers to deport illegal immigrants to “return hubs″ in African countries and elsewhere outside the bloc’s borders.

The EU Parliament in Brussels approved in a 389–206 vote on March 26 a raft of tighter immigration policies, amid calls from the bloc’s 27 nation states for a more hard-line approach toward illegal immigrants.

The European Commission drew up a raft of policies known as the Pact on Migration and Asylum in May 2024, proposing the creation of more deportation centers to facilitate the swift removal of rejected asylum seekers.

‘Era of Deportations’

Sweden Democrats European Parliament member Charlie Weimers welcomed the passage of the new return regulations, writing on X: “There is a new consensus in Europe. The era of deportations has begun.”

The proposals were pushed by lawmakers from countries that have experienced soaring numbers of asylum seekers, including Sweden, Denmark, Austria, Greece, Germany, and the Netherlands.

Parties from the center-right European People’s Party and the smaller, more nationalist Europe of Sovereign Nations in the European Parliament worked together and voted in favor of the proposals.

Any EU member state can now negotiate on its own behalf or in coalitions to deport illegal immigrants not to their home countries but to detention centers outside of the bloc.

A number of EU countries have already begun negotiations with governments, chiefly in Africa, to host sites to hold failed asylum claimants.

Opponents have questioned the policy’s effectiveness, and human rights groups have objected on humanitarian grounds.

Legal Challenges

The scheme plans deportation centers similar to those already established by Italy for holding illegal immigrants in neighboring Albania. Despite ongoing legal challenges, the Italian government sent the first batch of illegal immigrants to the Albanian “repatriation hubs” in April 2025.

The UK, which is no longer in the EU, attempted under the previous Conservative government to establish deportation centers in the central African nation of Rwanda. After the scheme was hit by several legal challenges, it was eventually scrapped by the current Labour government.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said the new measures are needed to prevent a repeat of the 2015 immigration crisis, when about 1 million migrants arrived in Europe and claimed asylum following the civil war in Syria.

Conservative and nationalist parties in the member states have repeatedly called on the EU to adopt a tougher approach toward failed asylum seekers, and voters across Europe have shown their feelings at the ballot boxes. Parties pledging to be tougher on immigration have polled well in recent years in countries including Germany, Sweden, and Italy.

Human rights groups have said that authorities are already pushing back migrants at EU borders and reducing legal protections that exist for those who claim asylum.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen speaks during a plenary session at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, on April 1, 2025. Frederick Florin/AFP via Getty Images

‘Designed to Deter’

Marta Welander of the International Rescue Committee said in a statement that the new policies will “strip people of rights and protections, based solely on their migration status in Europe, and pave the way towards a new punitive EU asylum and migration regime, designed to deter, detain and deport people seeking safety.”

The EU spends millions of dollars attempting to deter illegal immigrants from entering its borders, and it has supported tens of thousands of Africans in returning home through voluntary means as well as deportations.

Proposals for deportation centers in African countries are similar to U.S. President Donald Trump’s deals with Central American nations to take in criminal illegal immigrants, as well as those claiming asylum.

Current European immigration enforcement tactics include so-called pushbacks, by which those attempting to enter the EU illegally are forced back across a border without being granted access to asylum procedures.

Authorities across the EU carry out an average of 221 pushbacks a day, according to a February report by a group of nongovernmental organizations.

Police escort migrants as they walk to a refugee center after crossing the Croatian–Slovenian border near Rigonce, Slovenia, on Oct. 24, 2015. Jure Makovec/AFP/Getty Images

The report found that more than 80,000 pushbacks were recorded in 2025, mostly in Italy, Poland, Bulgaria, and Latvia.

The groups also noted an expansion of surveillance technology, such as drones, thermal cameras, and satellites, to monitor groups of people on the move.

According to Frontex statistics, the number of irregular border crossings at the EU’s external borders in 2025 stood at a little more than 178,000, a 26 percent decline from 2024 and the lowest level since 2021.

The new policies are set to come into effect on June 12.

AP Media contributed to this report.