Some 200 sanctions are being imposed on migrants per day for breaking benefits rules, new data has found.
Those claiming Universal Credit (UC) while out of work must enter a claimant "commitment" with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), which includes help with searching for jobs, creating a CV and appointments with careers advisors.
Essentially, the scheme is to ensure those claiming UC are actively looking and committed to returning to work.
Failure to do so results in a sanction, and think tank Centre for Migration Control has revealed the astonishing figures regarding migrants' refusal to commit to the scheme.
Some 198,771 sanctions were issued to migrants claiming UC between January 2023 and April 2025 - equivalent to 200 per day, or 1,600 per week.
With 1,356,226 sanctions being handed out in total during that period, it means migrants account for 14.6 per cent of all sanctions dished out.
The range of sanctions includes removing UC payments from the date of a missed appointment until a new one is arranged, up to claimants being stripped of payments entirely for up to three months.
Almost 500 migrants are signing up to benefits per day, while the overall number of foreign nationals receiving UC has increased by 6.7 per cent over the last year, reaching almost 1.3million.
Some 198,771 sanctions were issued to migrants claiming Universal Credit between January 2023 and April 2025 - equivalent to 200 per day, or 1,600 per week
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Robert Bates, research director at the CMC, said: "It is hugely insulting that so many benefit-claiming migrants have refused to even comply with a relatively modest set of work requirements, and shows that many simply come to our country for a handout.
"It is time to end the madness, and end foreign nationals’ access to the British welfare state, by scrapping Indefinite Leave to Remain."
There were 50,655 sanctions issued in April 2025, and 15 per cent (7,752) were issued to migrants. That figure was up 41 per cent from January 2023 (5,494).
Last year, the total cost of the UC system for foreign nationals stood at £10billion, while in the period between March 2022 and March 2025, the figure was just shy of £25billion.
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The Department for Work & Pensions dished out 7,752 sanctions to migrants in April 2025 alone
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Reform UK’s Lee Anderson said: "We are continually being told that mass migration is a good thing, but these figures show that too many people are coming here for a payday by taking benefits and refusing to play by the rules.
"Hard-working British taxpayers should not be footing the bill for those who weren’t born here.
"Only Reform UK has a clear plan to overhaul our benefits system, cut the ballooning £342billion welfare bill and get people back into work."
The figures come just weeks after Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced a crackdown on migrants receiving benefits in Britain.
Ms Mahmood said that those who move to the UK will only become eligible for benefits and social housing when they become British citizens, rather than when they are granted settlement.
"To settle in this country forever is not a right, but a privilege, and it must be earned," the Home Secretary said at the time.
"I am replacing a broken immigration system with one that prioritises contribution, integration and respect for the British sense of fair play."
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