Two people have been arrested after an undercover investigation by the BBC revealed an underground industry in which immigration advisors help asylum seekers pretend to be gay so they can stay in Britain.

The BBC reported today that the Criminal and Financial Investigations section of the Home Office’s Immigration Enforcement team arrested a woman in her late forties who may have violated the Immigration and Asylum Act, along with a man in his early twenties, who is alleged to have committed fraud.

“If lawyers, or so-called lawyers, and legal advisers are out there providing this dodgy advice, we’re coming after that,” Immigration Minister Mike Tapp told the broadcasting company. “And as you’ve seen today, we’ll make those arrests.”

“Our asylum system is there for people who are genuinely fleeing persecution and war and I’m really proud of that,” Tapp added. “But people that are trying to abuse it will not be accepted.”

During the initial BBC investigation, a reporter went undercover and said he found a vast network of immigration advisors willing to help folks whose work, tourist, or student visas have expired defraud their way into being granted LGBTQ+ asylum.

One firm charged up to 7,000 euros (about $8200 US) to help fabricate an asylum claim. Another said it had spent 17 years helping immigrants file fake gay asylum claims, even offering to hire someone to pretend to have been a client’s same-sex partner.

The undercover reporter also attended an event organized by...

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