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ELECTRONIC borders programme has already proved its effectiveness The government has pledged to invest more than £1b in its electronic borders programme, which has already screened millions of passengers and stopped thousands from sneaking into the UK illegally.
Bringing agencies together The e-Borders programme - which requires airlines and ferry companies to submit detailed passenger and crew information prior to departure to or from the UK - unites the work of several governmental agencies to check passenger information against names on national and international watch lists.
If suspicious names match, the Border and Immigration Agency, Customs, Police and UKvisas all work together to investigate.
While still in a trial phase the e-Borders system has already screened 29 million passengers and issued 13,000 alerts, resulting in more than 1,000 arrests - including arrests for crimes as serious as murder, rape and assault.
Immigration Minister Liam Byrne said the e-Borders programme creates a kind of 'overseas border control', with thorough checks before travellers ever board a train, plane or boat.
'All our tests show it works, and there are more than 1,000 arrests to prove it,' Mr Byrne said. 'Now we need to go further, with full-scale screening of travellers.'
The programme, he added, creates 'a new, offshore line of defence - helping genuine travellers, but stopping those who pose a risk before they travel.'
Part of a comprehensive programme The e-Borders system is backed up by a more visible and powerful presence of border control agents at UK points of entry, as the Home Office has tripled the number of immigration officers, who now wear distinctive uniforms.
Under the UK Borders Bill, currently before Parliament, these officers will also have greater legal powers to tackle organised crime, and to search and detain suspects.
At the same time, the enhanced work done overseas has already proven successful - airline liaison officers have stopped nearly 180,000 people from boarding planes in the last five years. That's the equivalent of two jumbo jets a week.
Last year alone, 17,000 people were prevented from crossing the channel illegally.
All of this work, combined with efforts by the French and Belgian governments, means that the number of illegal immigrants arriving in Kent has dropped 88% since 2002.
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