(BBC) Fewer than 100 people who crossed the English Channel in small boats have been arrested for arriving illegally in the UK under a new power to deter them.
The figure represents 0.3% of those who have crossed since the law was changed.
Under the new law, anyone who arrives in the UK without proper permission or good reason commits a crime that can lead to up to four years in prison.
The BBC sought the figure under freedom of information laws after the Home Office declined to disclose it.
A spokesman for the department said there has been a further 180 arrests since the summer under different immigration laws.
