A SCOTTISH council could soon draft plans to pull support for immigration raids carried out by the Home Office.
The Scottish Greens group in the City of Edinburgh Council proposed a motion to ask council officers if they could clarify what, if any, legal requirements exist to mandate the council assists the UK agency's immigration enforcement operations.
The Herald reports that the motion also asks councillors to "officially condemn migration raids and the UK Government's Hostile Environment policies".
Brought forward by Cllr Dan Heap, the motion would also ask officers to produce a report on what "actions are currently undertaken by the council to support or facilitate Home Office migration raids” and “what would be involved in establishing a formal anti-raids policy for the council”.
The Scottish Greens hold 10 of the 63 seats on the council. It is currently under no overall control but Labour runs a minority administration with informal backing of the LibDems (14) and Conservative (10) councillors.
The SNP have 17 representatives, and there is one independent.
The motion is yet to be voted on.
Heap told The Herald that he wrote the motion in a bid to stop any council involvement with immigration raids in the city.
"We are making inquiries as to how far the council's officials and processes are involved in these migration raids," he said.
“We believe that they shouldn't be given the very negative impact they have, both on the people and the families that are the subject of the raids, but also the broader communities.
“We know that when people come to Edinburgh from elsewhere for all kinds of different reasons, Edinburgh is so welcoming and they become part of our communities.”
It was revealed earlier this month that 400 people have been arrested for breaching immigration law relating to employment in 2025, with 1200 people in total arrested for doing so since 2019.
There was a 49% increase last year in arrests, from 269 people in 2024.
In Edinburgh, 270 immigration enforcement raids were carried out between January 2020 and July 2023.
Tory Home Office officials forced to abort alleged detention raid by Nicolson Square protestors in Edinburgh who blocked their van. Police Scotland remove the enforcement officers. pic.twitter.com/xRkxjhKTq0
— Skotia (@TheSkotia) May 5, 2022
In 2022 communities in the Newington area of Edinburgh rallied against a raid, blocking a Home Office van from leaving Nicholson Square. The video shown above shows the moment the policing presence left the area following the protest.
More than 100 people gathered at the location, south Waverley Station and close to the University of Edinburgh main campus, after reports immigration officers had attempted to detain people at a nearby restaurant.
It came a year after the Kenmure Street protest in Glasgow, where hundreds rallied in a six-hour stand-off against a raid in Pollokshields.
