The Border Force was a law enforcement command within the Ministry of the Interior created on 1 March 2012 and directly accountable to ministers. Border Force is responsible for immigration and customs control and the screening of passengers, cargo and port personnel at 140 rail, air and sea ports in the UK and Western Europe, as well as thousands of smaller runways, ports and marinas. [3] The work of the Border Force is overseen by the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration. In 2016, immigration officers (sister organization of the Border Force) introduced a new ”Thin Purple Line” badge that is used to represent immigration officers. This badge is worn jointly by IE and BF to represent the ”thin line” of officials protecting the British border. This follows the practice of other public services such as the police (Thin Blue Line), the Prison Service (Thin Grey Line), the Ambulance Service (Thin Green Line) and the fire brigade (Thin Red Line). However, this patch is not part of the official uniform. Following allegations that staff had been asked to relax certain identity checks, the UK Home Office suspended Brodie Clark, head of the UK Border Agency, in November 2011; [9] Carole Upshall, Director of the Border Agency for Operation South and Europe; [Citation needed] Graham Kyle, Director of Operations at Heathrow Airport. [9] The Interior Ministry investigated allegations that Clark had agreed to ”open the borders” at certain times in a way with which ministers ”would not have agreed.” [9] The BBC reported that staff may have been ordered not to scan biometric passports at certain times. A biometric passport contains a digital image of the holder`s face, which can be used to compare with the printed version and verify that the passport has not been falsified. [9] It is also believed that ”warning index checks” at Heathrow and Calais, which allegedly carried out strict security checks on the official watch lists of deported terrorists, criminals and illegal immigrants, have also been suspended.

[10] In December 2013, Belgium and the United Kingdom signed an agreement stating that side-by-side checks at Brussels South station ”only allow immigration checks carried out by the United Kingdom on passengers whose destination is in the United Kingdom”. It then states that `where a person who has boarded a cross-border train on the territory of Belgium via the fixed link and who has arrived in the United Kingdom is refused entry after it has been established that he has circumvented the United Kingdom`s immigration controls on Belgian territory by indicating that his final destination is intra-Schengen, the Belgian authorities may apply for the admission of such a person to the Do not refuse readmission. The agreement entered into force on 1 October 2016. [45] These activities do not include the construction of a new border barrier or the permanent acquisition of land. The Border Force has five operational regions: Central; Heathrow; North; South; and South-East and Europe. Regions are responsible for securing the border 24 hours a day, 365 days a year at UK ports, airports, post and rail depots. These include the Eurostar from Brussels and Paris to St. Pancras International and the Coquelles Channel Tunnel to Folkestone. Entry into the UK via the Channel Tunnel from France, Belgium or the Netherlands, or by ferry from Calais and Dunkirk in France, is controlled by adjacent immigration controls. Travellers go through UK passport control in France, Belgium or the Netherlands, while travellers from the UK travel to France, Belgium or the Netherlands which manage Schengen entry controls in the UK.

Belgium and the Netherlands do not carry out checks in the UNITED Kingdom, as France was the first Schengen country to enter. British border checkpoints in France are operated at the port of Calais, the port of Dunkirk, the Eurotunnel terminal in Calais, Calais-Fréthun station, Lille Europe station and Paris Du Nord station. For passengers arriving by Eurostar train from Marne-la-Vallée Chessy station, UK border control takes place at UK arrival stations, while French border checks take place at Marne-la-Vallée Chessy. A checkpoint was operational in Boulogne-sur-Mer until the port closed in August 2010. Uk Border Force checkpoints in the Netherlands will operate at Amsterdam Centraal and Rotterdam Centraal stations from 30 April 2020 and 18 May 2020 respectively. Border guards designated as customs officers under the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act, 2009 have broad powers to enter, search, seize and stop. They have the same customs and excise powers as HM Revenue and Customs officials, but cannot use HMRC`s powers for non-cross-border matters such as income tax and VAT. Their powers include the possibility of arresting any person who has committed an offence under the Customs and Excise Tax Acts or whose official has reasonable grounds to suspect that he or she has committed a criminal offence.

They can also seize prohibited and restricted goods such as controlled drugs and firearms, and ensure that the imported goods bear the correct taxes and duties. [19] The House of Lords Committee on the European Union stated that the Treaty of Le Touquet has led to an ”accumulation of pressure in the Calais region from people who want to come to the UK but do not comply with immigration regulations and are unable to apply for asylum in the UK from France”, and that ”the continuous establishment of unregulated campsites for people in this situation is a nuisance in French politics”. As a result, following the result of the 2016 referendum on the UK`s accession to the European Union in France, growing calls have been made to abolish the Le Touquet Treaty and end co-existing controls, including by the then-French presidential candidates, Alain Juppé and Emmanuel Macron, as well as the mayor of Calais, Natacha Bouchart. However, these demands have since diminished as political leaders in France and the UK have sought to strengthen their commitment to bilateral border cooperation (e.B. by acceding to the Sandhurst Treaty). At the same time, the Committee noted that, although agreements providing for cooperation controls ”are not formally dependent on the EU, agreements that underpin bilateral border cooperation are undoubtedly easier to maintain under the common umbrella of EU membership”. [63] CBP will then begin environmental planning and action in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for previously planned border barrier systems in the Rio Grande Valley, Laredo, and El Centro areas. Already in 2003, only one ”border police” had been proposed. [5] In ports and airports, special falsification detection devices are available to identify false passports and identity documents. Customs officers use a variety of specialized tools and equipment when searching for cars, trucks, planes, container ships, and other items that cross the border. .