• WHEN
  Wednesday 28 October
  5.30-7.30pm

• WHERE
  King’s College London, Strand, London, WC2R 2LS
  Dockrill Room, Department of War Studies (KIN 628)

The UK is betting on artificial intelligence to “fix” immigration.

AI is currently used to summarise asylum interviews and policy information, prioritise and assess immigration cases, estimate the age of children seeking asylum, review mobile phone data from new arrivals, and flag marriages for investigation using automated systems.

At the border, live facial recognition, AI-powered drones and satellites, and foreign-built autonomous surveillance towers are deployed to “stop the boats”. Additional programmes aim to identify threats before they arise.

Most of these systems operate with minimal transparency, are sourced primarily from US, Israeli, and other foreign defence and security firms, and are deployed without clear regulatory oversight.

Drawing on freedom of information disclosures, Home Office documents, and expert interviews, the report outlines what is publicly known about AI in the UK immigration system and at the border, as well as what the Home Office withholds under national security grounds. It contends that the core issue is not the technology itself, but the underlying ideology: a securitised approach to migration that treats people as risks and normalises an automated Hostile Environment extending beyond the border.

The paper sets out five recommendations: reject securitisation and AI techno-solutionism; address regulatory gaps; strengthen transparency through improved FOI laws; adopt a narrower definition of national security; create a robust public register of government AI tools; and provide digital sanctuary for migrants, refugees, and people seeking asylum.