Last Updated on 2 June 2026 by Maddison Wheeldon
The crisis facing social care could worsen as Labour sets out devastating plans to deport the children of migrant workers, who are filling vital staff shortages.
Despite having valid, and extended, health and care worker visas to work in the UK, migrant families continue to be attacked by the government.
As the Home Office “set[s] out plans for the biggest legal migration reforms in a generation”, to tackle “unprecedented levels of migration under the previous government”, children are being threatened with deportation.
Inevitably, this will lead to a mass exodus of people invited to work in social care while Brits have made it clear they don’t wish to fill these vacancies.
Therefore, this cruel and hostile policy to please the far-right and “restore order and control to our borders” could leave vulnerable people without the care and support they desperately need.
Who needs Reform's racism when Labour do the same shit?
https://t.co/bJ72m9pyGJ
— Wise Guy (@OldYesButWise) June 1, 2026
Social care could lose 69% of migrant workforce
Under the prior Conservative government, the Home Office began efforts to reduce the number of family visas for migrant care workers.
As is typical with a hateful Conservative cabinet, the government introduced policies in March 2024 banning care workers from bringing their dependants to the UK.
Subsequently, the Labour government introduced a ban on recruiting care workers overseas, which came into effect from July 2025.
Nevertheless, recent coverage of the crisis of unemployed young people in the UK has highlighted that they don’t want to take roles in social care. Therefore, they are unlikely to fill the void which will inevitably be caused by these hostile anti-immigration policies.
This is evidenced by the fact that retention of staff under age 30 is woeful, with 43% leaving their jobs in the care sector.
What will happen in 10 or 20 years from now when current, older staff retire without the bodies to replenish the workforce?
Earned settlement: Not a ‘fairer pathway to settlement’
Then, there is ‘earned settlement‘ — a major package of changes to immigration policies, which includes doubling the number of years someone must live in the UK before they qualify for permanent residence from five years to 10.
Of course, migrant care workers are against this as it’s incredibly dehumanising and destabilising.
A survey of more than 1,000 sponsored care workers revealed that 69% of care workers would consider leaving if the 15-year change is implemented.
When sponsored migrant carers are reported to provide 4.2 million hours of care every week and look after 280,000 people, losing them would be catastrophic.
Labour is increasingly hostile and authoritarian
However, this Labour government has shown persistent hostility to minoritised communities generally thus making this cruel policy hardly surprising. Whether you are Black, Brown, disabled or trans, this government will not treat you with the respect and dignity deserved.
Fizza Qureshi, chief executive of the Migrants’ Rights Network, condemned the government for forcing care workers into an impossible decision.
She told the Guardian:
Migrant care workers continually bear the brunt of this government’s disdain for migrants. Nobody should be forced into a decision to either leave their livelihood or be separated from their families.
The government really needs to grow a heart and treat migrant workers who are the foundations of our health and care systems, with more respect.
Naga Kandiah, of MTC Solicitors, also said:
Migrant care workers in the UK are being placed in an impossible position: [to not] continue essential work or risk being separated from their children or partners.
The result is an unfair choice between vital jobs in the social care system and long periods of separation from family.
These workers care for vulnerable people, yet the rules can prevent them from caring for their own families.
Therefore, it appears that our own government is playing an intrinsic role in barreling the country towards another crisis which is wholly preventable.
As a result, vulnerable people — both migrants and the people they care for — will pay the price.
Featured image via Jeff J Mitchell/ Getty Images
