Protests Grow Over Reopening Immigration Detention Centres in 2025

(KIDLINGTON, NORTH OF OXFORD, UNITED KINGDOM) Chanting “Keep Campsfield Closed” and “Freedom is a human right,” hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside the high fences of the Campsfield Immigration Detention Centre in late November 2025, protesting the government’s plan to restart immigration detention on the edge of this quiet village. Less than two weeks later, in early December, the centre — shut since 2018 after years of pressure from local residents and campaigners — officially reopened, with the first detainees expected to arrive under tight Home Office security.

The November protest and who attended

The 22 November 2025 protest at Campsfield House drew students, faith groups, trade union members and long‑time residents who say the return of detention in Kidlington is a betrayal of promises made when the facility closed seven years earlier.

The demonstration was organised by the Coalition to Keep Campsfield Closed, an alliance co‑founded by Asylum Welcome and Oxford Student Action for Refugees (STAR), along with other local and national organisations. Many in the crowd had stood outside the same gates in earlier campaigns, and they said little had changed in their view of what happens behind them.

Speakers took turns on a small makeshift platform, their voices carrying over chants and drum beats. Key voices included:

• Dr. Hari Reed, Joint CEO of Asylum Welcome, who called reopening Campsfield a “regressive step” that would cause fresh harm to people who had already survived war, persecution or long journeys to the United Kingdom 🇬🇧.
• Councillors Ian Middleton and Mike Rowley, who condemned the move as part of the government’s broader “Hostile Environment” approach to migration.
• Dr. Helen Groom from No To Hassockfield, who described the Kidlington facility as “one piece in a system that locks people up not for crimes, but for their immigration status.”
• Bill MacKeith, Vice President of Oxford Trades Union Council, who reminded the crowd that it took sustained community pressure to close Campsfield House in 2018 and argued the same determination would be needed again.

“Reopening the centre is a regressive step” — Dr. Hari Reed (as quoted at the protest)

Visuals, local impact and community concerns

Protesters held homemade placards pressed against the outer railings, many with bold messages in thick marker pen. Slogans included:

• Freedom is a human right
• Refugees are welcome here
• Keep Campsfield Closed

For families living nearby, the return of transport vans and security patrols around the perimeter fence was a sharp contrast to the relative calm since 2018. Several residents said they now worry once more about sirens, late‑night vehicle movements and the knowledge that people are being held indefinitely just a short walk from their homes.

Planned actions around reopening

While the official reopening took place in early December 2025, campaigners timed further action for Wednesday, 3 December 2025, when the first detainees were expected to be brought to the site.

The Coalition to Keep Campsfield Closed announced:

1. A protest at 4pm outside the centre in Kidlington.
2. A second gathering at 6pm at Carfax in central Oxford.

Organisers said events in both Kidlington and the city centre were meant to show that opposition came not just from immediate neighbours but from across the wider community, including students and staff at the University of Oxford and Oxford Brookes.

Support for detainees and legal context

Asylum Welcome has stressed that, while it pushes for closure, it will continue to support anyone held inside Campsfield. The charity expects to provide:

• Legal signposting
• Emotional support
• Contact with the outside world

Under current UK immigration detention rules, people can be held for months without a fixed time limit — a policy frequently criticised by charities and international bodies. Official information about immigration detention, including detainees’ rights and how family members can get help, is set out on the UK government guidance page: https://www.gov.uk/immigration-detainee.

Political framing and alternatives

Local elected representatives framed the reopening as a political choice rather than a necessity. They argue that community‑based alternatives are both cheaper and more humane, for example:

• Reporting requirements
• Case management support

According to analysis by VisaVerge.com, the use of immigration detention across Europe has drawn growing legal challenges in recent years, with courts in several countries questioning how long people can be held and in what conditions.

Historical concerns and oversight questions

The return of Campsfield House also raises memories of past incidents before 2018:

• Hunger strikes
• Self‑harm incidents
• Allegations over treatment inside the centre

Many of these were reported by detainees and support groups at the time. Campaigners acknowledge the Home Office has promised improved oversight and facilities, but they say independent evidence is still limited and fear old problems may reappear once the population grows.

International links and parallel protests in the United States

The Oxfordshire protests are part of a broader wave of action against immigration detention in 2025 that has stretched across the Atlantic.

In the United States 🇺🇸, anger flared in August 2025 at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington, after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained US Army veteran Muhammad Zahid Chaudhry during what had been expected to be a routine immigration interview. Local activists and community leaders called an emergency protest outside the Tacoma facility, demanding his immediate release and an end to what they described as the criminalisation of long‑term residents.

Speakers in Tacoma denounced the detention of a veteran as an “assault on our communities” and a “slap in the face of American values and the law.” Campaigners held US flags and photos of Chaudhry in uniform, highlighting the contrast between his service record and treatment in the immigration system.

Advocacy groups tracking US immigration policy reported that more than 700 immigration‑related demonstrations took place nationwide in early 2025, many responding to new executive orders tightening entry rules and expanding ICE enforcement. Rallies occurred outside federal buildings, at airports, and at detention centres from California to New Jersey, often uniting students, faith leaders, labour unions and local officials.

Cross‑movement solidarity and information flows

Links between UK and US movements are increasingly visible:

• Campaigners at the Campsfield protest spoke about similar actions at American facilities.
• US organisers pointed to the long history of opposition around Campsfield House as proof that local resistance can push governments to change course.
• Social media posts from the Kidlington rally were shared by activists in Seattle and Tacoma, who sent back messages of support.

Personal impact and community anxiety

For families with loved ones potentially caught up in these systems, the debates and protests are deeply personal.

• In Oxfordshire, families worry a relative could be picked up during an immigration check and taken to Campsfield without warning.
• In Washington state, families voice the same fear about the Northwest Detention Center.

Lawyers and charities in both countries report growing anxiety among people with pending asylum claims or old criminal convictions, who feel detention is no longer a distant risk but a real possibility.

What campaigners plan next

As the first transport vans were expected to arrive again at Campsfield House, the Coalition to Keep Campsfield Closed said it would continue to hold:

• Regular vigils
• Public meetings
• Ongoing protests

Across the Atlantic, campaigners outside the Tacoma facility pledged to keep pressing for the release of Muhammad Zahid Chaudhry and others held inside. Together, they describe their actions as part of the same struggle: pushing back against immigration detention policies that, in their view, place barbed wire and locked doors where safe housing and fair hearings should be.