The European Parliament has approved a tough new deportation law, deemed the ‘strictest ever,’ aimed at removing illegal migrants faster, signaling that Europe’s failed open-borders era could be finally being forced into retreat.
The return regulation passed by 418 votes to 218, with 30 abstentions. Once formally approved by the Council, it will create a harder EU-wide framework for deporting migrants who have no legal right to remain in Europe.
The vote produced a charged scene inside the chamber. Supporters applauded, while MEPs on the right chanted “send them back”—a phrase that summed up the demand now rising across Europe’s streets, ballot boxes and parliaments.
Done deal: Mass deportations from Europe will soon become reality✈️ pic.twitter.com/rQ66WpZL3P
— Charlie Weimers MEP 🇸🇪 (@weimers) June 17, 2026
Left-wing lawmakers answered with chants of “shame on you.” But for millions of Europeans, the real shame is not deportation but that illegal migrants have been allowed to stay for years after being ordered to leave.
Only around 20 percent of people ordered to leave the EU are actually removed.
The new law is designed to end the EU’s farcical deportation system. It imposes tougher cooperation duties, expands detention powers, strengthens entry bans, allows return hubs outside the EU, and makes it harder for rejected migrants to disappear into another member state.
At the center of the package are return hubs in non-EU countries. These facilities would allow member states to transfer rejected asylum seekers and irregular migrants outside the bloc through agreements with third countries.
The hubs could serve as transit sites for people awaiting return to their countries of origin. They could also hold migrants for longer periods when their home countries refuse to cooperate or when immediate removal is not possible.