The European Parliament on Wednesday, 17 June 2026, gave final approval to the EU's new "return regulation", the bloc's toughest migration law in decades, authorising deportation centres outside EU territory, longer detention, home searches of irregular migrants and stricter entry bans.

The Strasbourg chamber adopted the legislation by 418 votes to 218, with 30 abstentions. The measure, which aims to speed up the return of migrants with no legal right to remain in the EU, passed with the backing of the centre-right European People's Party (EPP) alongside the right-wing European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), the far-right Patriots for Europe (PfE) and Europe of Sovereign Nations (ESN). Several members of the liberal Renew Europe group also supported the bill.

What the law does

The regulation's most contentious element allows EU countries to establish "return hubs" — deportation centres outside the bloc — through agreements with non-EU countries. These hubs could serve as transit facilities where people await return to their country of origin, or as locations where migrants remain for extended periods, potentially without a time limit or any guarantee of onward return. Only unaccompanied minors are exempt from transfer to the hubs; families with children can be sent there.

The law raises the maximum legal detention period for irregular migrants awaiting return from six months to two years, with a possible six-month extension and unlimited duration for persons considered a security risk.

Entry bans will also tighten significantly, rising from five to ten years in most cases, with lifetime bans available for those deemed a security risk. A further provision authorises searches of a "place of residence or other relevant premises" of irregular migrants — a measure NGOs and civil society groups have compared to raids carried out by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The legislation also reshapes the appeals process. Under current rules, deportations are automatically suspended while legal challenges are pending. The new law ends that automatic safeguard, leaving courts to decide on a case-by-case basis whether a return order should be suspended pending appeal.

The political arithmetic

The vote confirms a right-leaning majority in Parliament on migration issues. The EPP continues to rule out formal cooperation with parties it regards as too extreme, including the Alternative for Germany (AfD) and France's National Rally — EPP leader Manfred Weber has repeatedly rejected formal alliances with such forces. But the EPP treats their votes as crucial for tougher migration legislation, creating an alternative majority to the traditional centrist coalition of the EPP, Socialists and Democrats (S&D) and Renew Europe.

The chamber's atmosphere reflected the division. After the result was announced, supporters applauded and some MEPs on the right chanted "send them back" in reference to irregular migrants. Lawmakers on the opposite side responded with chants of "shame on you".

Socialists and left-wing MEPs largely opposed the legislation, arguing it could undermine migrants' fundamental rights.

"This regulation risks normalising legally questionable practices that would have been unthinkable in the EU only a few years ago," Ana Catarina Mendes, vice-president of the S&D group, said in a statement.

Practical consequences

For practitioners, the regulation changes the procedural calculus at every stage of a return case. Immigration lawyers will need to seek interim relief case-by-case where the automatic suspension of removal pending appeal no longer applies, making urgent court applications a standard feature of challenges to return orders. Advisers to families with children face exposure to extra-territorial transfer, while criminal-law and security-risk designations now carry sharply heavier immigration consequences, including unlimited detention and lifetime entry bans. The home-search power is likely to generate early litigation over its scope and proportionality. Businesses and NGOs operating reception or assistance facilities may also face searches of premises classed as "relevant". Implementation will depend on the terms of the future agreements member states conclude with non-EU countries hosting return hubs, which will define the legal remedies available to transferees outside EU jurisdiction.