Last month, there were 39 immigration enforcement visits in Scotland – a 116 per cent rise compared to January 2024, when the Conservatives were in government. Arrests from these raids rose 262 per cent from only eight in January 2024 to 29 last month, the highest increase of any UK region or nation.

Across the UK, immigration enforcement visits reached 828 in February, up nearly 49 per cent year-on-year, while arrests rose from 352 to 609 – a 73 per cent increase.

Between July 5 last year and January 31 this year, 285 immigration raids were conducted in Scotland, a 68 per cent increase from 169 during the same period in the previous year. Arrests also rose by 83 per cent, from 103 to 189.

Scottish Liberal Democrats justice spokesperson Liam McArthur said the Labour government must “ensure they balance strictly enforcing the law against gang masters and people traffickers with a compassionate approach to people.”

He added: “The Home Office has often been crude and heavy handed. If the number of raids in Scotland is increasing, there is all the more need for its approach to be properly scrutinised.”

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper defended the rise in enforcement, saying: “The immigration rules must be respected and enforced. For far too long, employers have been able to take on and exploit illegal migrants and too many people have been able to arrive and work illegally with no enforcement action ever taken.

“Not only does this create a dangerous draw for people to risk their lives by crossing the Channel in a small boat, but it results in the abuse of vulnerable people, the immigration system and our economy.”

Sabir Zazai, chief executive of the Scottish Refugee Council, told The Scotsman: “Immigration raids do not stop people seeking safety from needing to survive, nor do they prevent them from being exploited. Dehumanising publicity tactics do absolutely nothing to help the protection of people and will only breed hostility and division in our society.”

The release of the latest enforcement data coincides with the second reading of the UK government’s Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill this week.