Human Trafficking: Iconic Victims, Folk Devils and the Nationality and Borders Act 2022

On 28 April 2022, the Westminster Parliament passed the controversial Nationality and Borders Act. The Act is the single biggest overhaul of the UK’s immigration system in decades. The Act aims to deter illegal entry into the UK; remove more easily those with no right to be in the UK; and increase the overall fairness of the system. Notwithstanding these seemingly laudable objectives, however, this article argues that the Act represents a retrograde step in the protection of victims of human trafficking. Relying upon Nils Christie’s ‘ideal/iconic victims’ and Stanley Cohen’s ‘folk devils’ critique, the article contends that, in an age of heightened securitization and moral panics, the Act will operate to create ‘folk devils’ of victims of trafficking who do not self-identify, and unduly penalize victims of trafficking who have committed offences in the course, or as a consequence, of being trafficked.