On 26 March, the European Parliament plenary endorsed a compromise text on the EU’s controversial new deportations bill (draft EU Return Regulation) that sealed a toxic alliance between centre-right and far-right forces.

With this vote, publicly elected MEPs are choosing to put hundreds of thousands of people, including children, at risk of irreparable harm. The text allows member states to detain children and adults, tear families apart, and send people to deportation centres in countries they have never set foot in. Five EU countries – Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Denmark and Greece – are already collaborating on plans to set up such centres, although no information is yet available about destination countries.

The proposals also grant sweeping powers to restrict people’s movements, search belongings, impose disproportionate “security” measures, and share personal data with countries that lack safeguards.

The Parliament’s position adds to an already harmful text, that is set to normalise and escalate ICE-style immigration enforcement across the Union. The Commission’s proposal would require member states to deploy broad and undefined detection measures to catch undocumented people, which could result in invasive surveillance, racial profiling and obligations for public workers to denounce undocumented people. More than 1,100 European healthcare professionals have urged MEPs to reject deportation-focused proposals, warning they could harm public health by turning hospitals into immigration enforcement sites. The Council’s position on the draft Return Regulation endorses police raids of public spaces and private homes, with very little safeguards.

This proposal is moving forward in a context that is already extremely hostile to migrants. European national border and police forces have been operating racialised checks, immigration raids, and violent deportations for years. All of this echoes ICE brutal immigration enforcement.

For instance, immigration raids are a mainstay across Europe too. Already in June 2025, the French minister for home affairs Bruno Retailleau deployed 4,000 police agents to carry out sweeping checks across bus and train stations, with the aim to arrest and detain undocumented people. In January 2026, the UK government boasted about “record” raids in nail bars, car washes, barbers and takeaway shops. In Belgium, the government is considering a proposal to allow police to raid private homes in search of undocumented people.

Police and border forces across Europe routinely profile and stop people based on the colour of their skin, clothing or religious symbols to check their papers, much like ICE agents have been found to do. In 2025, France was condemned for such practices by the European Court on Human Rights. In 2023, a Dutch court condemned and banned racial profiling as a profiling tool by Dutch border guards.

While immigration raids and other violent practices already exist in certain EU member states, embedding these measures in binding EU legislation would legitimise, expand and standardise them across Europe, turning exceptional or contested practices into the norm. It would encourage their spread to member states where they do not yet exist, and make them far harder to challenge or reverse.

We want to make this very clear: what we see in the US is already happening in the EU, and those  practices risk becoming normalised and escalating here too.

The three key EU institutions – Commission, Council and Parliament – will now work to hammer out a final text. EU negotiators are sending a clear message: they are choosing repression, violence and harm over inclusion and community support – and the consequences will be felt in every clinic, school, neighbourhood and home across Europe.

Help us stop it.

Read more about this Regulation and what you can do in our factsheet.

Spread the word. Mobilise locally. Sign the petition.

⚖️ FORMER FRONTEX DIRECTOR INVESTIGATED FOR CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY. French judicial authorities have opened a criminal investigation into Fabrice Leggeri, the former director of the EU border agency Frontex and now a Member of the European Parliament for the far‑right Rassemblement National, for alleged complicity in crimes against humanity and torture. The probe follows a complaint filed by NGOs Ligue des Droits de l’Homme, Utopia 56 and Anafé, accusing him of tolerating or facilitating pushbacks and interceptions of migrant boats by Greek and Libyan authorities during his tenure at Frontex. Under Leggeri’s leadership from 2015 to 2022, Frontex dramatically expanded its operations amid mounting accusations of human‑rights violations at EU borders.

⛔ ITALY, DENMARK CALL FOR MIGRATION CONTAINMENT AMID WAR IN IRAN. Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen have called for increased EU coordination in response to potential migration linked to the war in the Middle East, framing mobility primarily as a risk to be contained. In a joint letter to EU leaders, they stressed the need to support populations in the region to prevent large-scale arrivals and to “ensure that the EU has full control of its external borders”. The initiative was presented ahead of a European Council meeting as part of broader discussions on migration policy.

🌎 NEW EU MIGRATION DEALS WITH NIGERIA, SENEGAL. The EU and Nigeria signed a new readmission deal for rejected asylum seekers in exchange of a €288 million funding package for Nigeria’s healthcare system. The Nigerian authorities have signalled their intention to deepen cooperation with the EU on migration, security, and economic development. The focus on migration control remains central, with Nigeria taking back rejected migrants in exchange for EU investment and market access.

The EU is also moving closer to a migration and investment pact with Senegal, following high-level talks in early March between EU commissioners for international partnerships and for migration, and Senegalese authorities. Border control remains the key focus, with increased maritime surveillance, patrol boats, and cooperation to prevent departures.

🔒 PORTUGAL TIGHTENS RULES ON UNDOCUMENTED MIGRANTS. The Portuguese government has endorsed a draft bill that aims to speed up deportation procedures and limit opportunities to regularise one’s administrative status. The reform would extend immigration detention from 60 days to up to 18 months, speed up deportation procedures, and lengthen entry bans. The proposal will need to be voted by the Parliament, amid concerns over the impact on migrants’ rights and access to fair procedures.

🗣️ SWEDEN: NEW PROPOSAL OBLIGES PUBLIC AGENCIES TO REPORT UNDOCUMENTED PEOPLE. The Swedish government has proposed new legislation that would oblige some public agencies and workers to report undocumented people to the police. The agencies that the Swedish government is targeting are: the Swedish Employment Agency, the Swedish Social Insurance Agency, the Swedish Prison and Probation Service, the Swedish Enforcement Authority, the Swedish Pensions Agency and the Swedish Tax Agency. 

Only days earlier, the government tabled a proposal that expands authorities’ ability to revoke a residence permit, including due to considerations about the person’s “lifestyle”. Both proposals are proposed to enter into force on July 13, 2026.

❤️ WHAT’S GIVING US HOPE THIS MONTH ❤️

The Spanish government has adopted a royal decree improving access to the public healthcare system for undocumented people living in the country. The measure removes administrative barriers that previously prevented many undocumented migrants from accessing medical care. Under the new rules, anyone able to prove they live in Spain can apply for healthcare at their local health centre and receive temporary coverage immediately while their application is processed. If there is no response from the local administration within that timeframe, the application will be deemed to have been approved.

The reform aims to ensure consistent access across all Spanish regions and reduce reliance on emergency services, while prioritising vulnerable groups such as children and pregnant women. The decree marks a significant step toward reinforcing the universality of Spain’s public health system and ensuring that healthcare is accessible to everyone living in the country, regardless of migration status.

Credit: Platform for Undocumented Migrants (PICUM)