ALMOST half of the MPs who reported constituents to the Home Office immigration hotline last year are from the Labour Party.

The figures were revealed yesterday as 15 leading organisations working with migrants wrote to Commons Speaker John Bercow expressing their “deep concern” over the hundreds of cases of MPs reporting people they purported to represent.

Home Office figures uncovered in a parliamentary answer showed 723 people have been reported by MPs for immigration enforcement since the Government’s “hostile environment” policy was introduced in 2012.

In 2017, 73 referrals were made. Of these, 34 were received from Conservative members, 32 from Labour, one from the Democratic Unionist Party and one from the Liberal Democrats.

The letter, signed by the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, Doctors of the World, Bail for Immigration Detainees and others, described the revelation as a “fundamental breach of trust”.

Migrants often have nowhere to turn for help with their immigration cases after years of legal aid cuts, but advice groups say they can no longer recommend that they approach their MP for support, unless the member has signed the “MPs not Border Guards” pledge promising not to report them to the Home Office.

This was launched by Migrants Organise, one of the letter’s signatories, and campaign group Global Justice Now in the summer. Since then it has been signed by more than 100 MPs, including most of the SNP’s Westminster contingent.

Two out of seven Scottish Labour MPs – Danielle Rowley and Paul Sweeney – have signed the pledge, along with two of the Scottish Liberal Democrats’ four MPs.

The details emerged in parliamentary answers from Immigration Minister Caroline Nokes.

She said data showed MPs had reported immigration abuse 19 times in 2012, 113 in 2013, 101 in 2014, 219 in 2015, 162 in 2016, 73 in 2017 and 36, so far, in 2018.

She added of the referrals received in 2017, 34 were from Conservative MPs, 32 from Labour, one from the DUP and one from the LibDems.

Five reports were later deemed not to have come from MPs.

Ian Blackford, the SNP’s Westminster leader, told The National: “This is a clear indication that Theresa May’s hostile environment has left people fearful of doing what should be taken for granted, the right to contact their MP and to trust their parliamentary representative to represent their interests.”

Satbir Singh, chief executive of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI), shared Blackford’s view: “Parliament must clarify whether passing constituent data to immigration enforcement breaches data protection.

“It must also explain to the country, under what circumstances is this practice taking place? MPs should not be taking it upon themselves to act as ‘border guards,’ betraying the trust of their constituents and perpetuating a culture of hostility towards migrants.

“Have we not learnt anything from the scandal and tragedy of Windrush? MPs acting as border guards puts highly vulnerable people at risk, driving them further underground and into the shadows.”

Akram Salhab, campaigns and advocacy officer at Migrants Organise, added: “The demand that MPs represent all their constituents equally is a basic principle of how Parliament works. Sadly, this is yet another pillar of our democracy that has been sacrificed at the altar of the Government’s hostile environment policies.

“Many of our members are now afraid of approaching their MPs lest their reaching out for support be used to detain and deport them. All political parties ... can end this practice today by instructing their MPs not to share their constituent’s data for immigration enforcement purposes.”