Texting immigrants: 'you must leave'

Home Secretary John Reid also announced today that he wants to stop them getting housing, health care and benefits.

Campaigners say the measures will simply drive more people into crime and poverty.

But today's announcement isn't the first time the government has vowed to get tough with illegal immigrants.

Covert tactics are at the heart of the Home Office's new immigration enforcement strategy, unveiled today in partnership with several other government departments, including work and pensions, health, and education.

The document talks about a watch list of illegal immigrants, tracking them down using council tax data, health records, disclosing personal information to private companies and the forthcoming National Identity Register.

But there's not extra money from Gordon Brown. It's foreign nationals welcome here who are to foot the estimated annual £100m bill to beef up enforcement.

In the UK the cost of applying to live here will rise from £335 to £750, and for British citizenship nearly three times more, from £200 to £575.

Enforcing the rules will also include denying people benefits to pressure them to return home. But the government ran into major resistance from local authorities when they tried this back in 2004.

Then they threatened to remove all support to immigrant families like the Sukulas in Bolton who refused to go back voluntarily.

The Home Office says it can't give figures as to how many families were affected because there's still an ongoing evaluation.

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