The Home Office wants to deport 14,000 migrants by the end of this year, the Daily Express understands.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, announcing “new measures to strengthen border security”, said she wants to “achieve the highest rate of removals” over a six-month period since 2018.

Ms Cooper has ordered a “surge in immigration enforcement and returns activity” and will target migrants who have overstayed their visas and failed asylum seekers from “lower grant rate” countries such as Albania, Iraq, Turkey, Nigeria and Pakistan.

Ms Cooper said: “We are taking strong and clear steps to boost our border security and ensure the rules are respected and enforced.

“Our new Border Security Command is already gearing up, with new staff being urgently recruited and additional staff already stationed across Europe.

“They will work with European enforcement agencies to find every route in to smashing the criminal smuggling gangs organising dangerous boat crossings which undermine our border security and put lives at risk.

“And by increasing enforcement capabilities and returns, we will establish a system that is better controlled and managed, in place of the chaos that has blighted the system for far too long.”

Employers who hire illegal migrants could lose their businesses, be fined or even prosecuted if they are caught by a “intelligence-led” Home Office programme.

The migrants themselves will be detained and removed.

The Home Office said it wants to “build” on nine successful deportation flights in the past six weeks, “including the largest-ever chartered return flight”. The Daily Express understands details of this operation have not been publicised because the receiving country wanted to avoid domestic criticism.

Officials said 300 staff are being redeployed to increase the removal of failed asylum seekers.

The Daily Express also understands the Home Office is measuring the success of the “surge” over the six-month period to measure a Labour Government’s determination to take a tough stance on borders.

Under Labour’s plans for a new Border Security Command, more British investigators and spies will be based in Europe.

And Ms Cooper confirmed another 100 intelligence specialists will be hired to “disrupt and smash criminal smuggling gangs and prevent dangerous boat crossings”.

Sources have told the Daily Express that Ms Cooper’s team is hoping MI5 spies will treat people smugglers like foreign spies and terrorists.

This could see them bug smugglers’ phones and trace their movements, this newspaper understands.

Ms Cooper has ordered a review into how the gangs operate because she believes there are more opportunities to disrupt the gangs.

Intelligence has been gathered on how the gangs operate, where they are based, the routes they take and how they communicate with migrants hoping to cross the Channel.

NCA Director General of Operations, Rob Jones, said: “Tackling organised immigration crime remains a key priority for the NCA and we are dedicating more effort and resource than ever before.

“These extra officers will play a key role in that, with the NCA currently leading around 70 investigations into the highest harm people smuggling and trafficking groups.

“Taking on these dangerous and exploitative gangs requires international co-operation and we continue to further enhance our already strong relationship with Europol and other law enforcement partners.

“We are determined to do all we can to disrupt and dismantle these networks, whether they are operating in the UK or overseas.”