UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman will raise “unsustainable” immigration pressures during her visit to the United States

LONDON (Reuters) – British Home Secretary Suella Braverman will raise “the unsustainable pressures” created by illegal migration when she makes a three-day visit to the United States this week, her office said on Sunday.

In a keynote speech, Braverman will present a plan for how countries can combat the crisis and highlight how Britain has led the way by introducing “innovative approaches” to tackling the problem, the Home Office said.

“Illegal migration and the unprecedented mass movement of people around the world are placing unsustainable pressures on the United States, the United Kingdom and Europe,” Braverman said in the statement.

“We must come together and ask whether international conventions and legal frameworks designed more than 50 years ago are fit for purpose in an era of air travel and smartphones.”

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who took office last year, has made “stopping the boats” – the arrival of migrants in small boats across the English Channel – a priority.

However, UK government policies, such as sending asylum seekers to Rwandauntil now couldn’t take off. Almost 45,000 people were detected arriving in small boats in the 12 months to June, a year-on-year increase of 26%, according to official data.

The Biden administration has also been grappling with high levels of migration, and U.S. authorities finding more 142,000 migrants on the border between the United States and Mexico in the first half of September.

Braverman, who will travel to Washington on Monday, will seek closer collaboration with the United States to address illegal migration and organized immigration crime. He will hold talks with lawmakers and senior US officials, including Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, the statement added.

“I am going to Washington to discuss this (illegal migration) crisis with our American counterparts. If we fail to address these challenges, then our political institutions risk losing their democratic legitimacy,” Braverman said.

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