• D.C.
  • BXL
  • Lagos
  • Riyadh
  • Beijing
  • SG
  • D.C.
  • BXL
  • Lagos
Semafor Logo
  • Riyadh
  • Beijing
  • SG


Flagship newsletter icon
From Semafor Flagship
In your inbox, Every weekday
Sign up

UK and France agree ‘one-in, one-out’ on immigration

Jul 11, 2025, 5:13am EDT
PostEmailWhatsapp
Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer shakes hands with French President Emmanuel Macron.
Alberto Pezzali/Pool via Reuters

The UK and France on Thursday agreed a deal aimed at curbing illegal crossings by boat.

The “one in, one out” program will allow both countries to exchange migrants who can’t prove a family connection to the nation they entered, though the UN’s migration chief warned that such harsh tactics are less effective than supplying aid to countries that can host migrants.

Virtually every Western country is now pursuing an immigration crackdown, the writer Noah Smith recently noted: The Netherlands passed legislation tightening asylum policies last week, and Germany recently boosted border controls.

The US has ramped up immigration raids, increased funding for enforcement, and embraced “once-fringe tactics” including a massive migrant detention camp in the Florida Everglades, Axios wrote.

AD
AD