Home Secretary will set out her vision
for the challenges posed by global migration in a major speech in
America next week.
She will travel to Washington DC tomorrow (Monday September 25)
as part of an official three-day visit.
On Tuesday, she will deliver a keynote address, titled
‘Global Migration Challenges’. This will not only set
out the pressure the UK faces through illegal migration but how
countries around the world are encountering similar issues.
She will present a blueprint for how other countries can combat
this crisis and how the UK has led the way in bringing forward
innovative approaches to tackling illegal migration.
Another core aim of the visit is to seek closer collaboration
with US partners on tackling illegal migration and organised
immigration crime. The Home Secretary will hold a series of talks
with US lawmakers and senior officials, including Secretary of
Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas and Attorney General Merrick
Garland, on migration and other key issues including state
threats, national security, serious organised crime and fraud.
Home Secretary said:
"Illegal migration and the unprecedented mass movement of people
across the globe is placing unsustainable pressures on America,
the UK, and Europe.
"We must come together and ask whether the international
conventions and legal frameworks designed fifty-plus years ago
are fit for purpose in an age of jet travel and smartphones.
"I'm going to Washington to discuss this crisis with our American
counterparts. If we fail to meet these challenges, then our
political institutions risk losing their democratic legitimacy.”
During the programme, she is also due to visit the National
Center for Missing and Exploited Children to see how the
organisation is working with law enforcement worldwide to tackle
the evolving threat of paedophiles and child abuse online.
The visit comes following the Home Secretary’s call this week for
social media companies to halt the roll out of end-to-end
encryption on its platforms without robust safety measures that
ensure children are protected from sexual abuse and exploitation
in messaging channels.
She will also meet with US law enforcement bodies including the
Department for Homeland Security and local police.
The Home Secretary will be briefed on the current issues of the
deadly fentanyl epidemic in the US. According to the US
Government, drug overdoses led to the deaths of more than 100,000
Americans in a single year in 2021, equating to over 270 deaths
per day. The UK is a supporter of the US-led Global Coalition to
Address Synthetic Drug Threats, aimed at tackling the threat of
illicit opioids, and the Home Secretary will observe work on the
ground to tackle the problem.
