EU lawmakers to approve migrant detention and deportation boost
Police conduct a search operation at a makeshift camp of migrants who want to cross the English Channel to Britain near Dunkirk, northern France, Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)
European lawmakers gave final approval on June 17 to tougher migration rules that will grant authorities broader powers to detain irregular arrivals and allow for the creation of deportation centers outside the bloc.
The vote in Strasbourg was one of the last hurdles for a reform that has sailed through the EU’s notoriously long legislative process as Brussels and member states respond to political pressure to curb migration.
“This regulation tells everybody that it is us and not the smugglers deciding who can stay in the European Union and who must leave,” said Magnus Brunner, the EU’s commissioner for migration.
