Nigel Farage, the populist leader of Reform UK, is setting his sights on cracking down on illegal immigration if he were to become the next Prime Minister, drawing a bold parallel to former U.S. President Barack Obama’s tough stance on the issue.
In a recent article for the Daily Mail, Farage declared, “If I become the next Prime Minister, I’ll be deporter-in-chief — like Barack Obama.” His statement, published Saturday, comes just ahead of the upcoming local elections in England, where Farage’s party is poised to field the largest number of candidates. Meanwhile, the Conservative Party is scrambling to defend nearly two-thirds of the 1,600 seats on offer.
Although Obama and Farage come from vastly different political backgrounds — with Obama a Democrat and Farage a strong supporter of former President Donald Trump — the Reform UK leader admires Obama’s track record when it comes to immigration enforcement. Farage said he would adopt a similarly stringent approach, calling for a “zero tolerance” policy supported by new, legally solid reforms and international agreements to streamline deportations.
In his article, Farage pointed out that large-scale deportations aren’t a novel concept, referencing Obama’s record as the “Deporter-in-Chief.” During his two terms, Obama oversaw the removal of 3 million undocumented immigrants from the U.S. between 2009 and 2017, a feat Farage now hopes to replicate in the U.K.
The U.K. itself faces a significant issue with unauthorized migrants, with estimates ranging from 800,000 to 1.2 million people living in the country without proper documentation, according to the latest data available from 2017.
As the country braces for a significant electoral showdown this Thursday, Farage’s controversial remarks have only added fuel to an already intense political fire, signaling a tough battle ahead for the nation’s immigration policies.
