Lewisham Council could become the first in the UK to ban its administration from cooperating with the Home Office on immigration raids. A motion being debated today would commit the Green-led council to systematically review its work with immigration enforcement and refuse to assist raids “wherever legally possible”.
The mayor of Lewisham, Liam Shrivastava, said it forms part of the council’s attempts to “protect our diverse communities from Labour’s anti-migrant onslaught.” He told ITV News London: “This motion is about being really clear that we are going to protect everyone in our community, and that includes migrant workers.
“The motion makes very clear that we are London’s first borough of sanctuary. We’re very proud of that but we don’t just want to be a borough of sanctuary in name but also in practice.”
Green candidate Liam Shrivastava won the mayoralty in Lewisham on 7 May 2026.
The motion would also see Lewisham work with Lambeth and other Green-led councils to build an anti-raids “Sanctuary corridor” across London. This would involve collaborating with migrant organisations, anti-raids networks, law centres, faith and community groups to share best practice and policies.
Shrivastava continued: “We welcome refugees, we have good working relationships with migration organisations supporting refugees and asylum seekers. We have officers dedicated to that work.
“But what we’re wanting to do is really extend the concept of being a sanctuary borough, making sure that those practices and those values are embedded across all council services.”
The motion argues that sharing council data with the Home Office for immigration enforcement is incompatible with those values.
It comes after a 77% rise in illegal working raids since Labour came to power. There were 261 raids in Lewisham alone last year.
The proposals would see the council administration work with Lewisham Anti-Raids to support migrant businesses and those targeted by raids, ensuring they are aware of their legal rights. It would also partner with organisations in the Lewisham Migration Forum to strengthen “trauma-informed, anti-racist, care and evidence-based approaches” to better support migrant communities.
The council wants to conduct a comprehensive review of its systems and processes to ensure resources are not spent facilitating “harm to our communities”.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “While all immigration enforcement visits are intelligence-led, we make no apology for joining forces with local authorities to enable information sharing and ultimately fighting criminals who fuel immigration crime.
“Since coming into power, we have increased Immigration Enforcement action to the highest level in British history.
“This has delivered an 83% rise in illegal working arrests and 77% rise in raids between 1 July 2024 to 31 December 2025.”