Tens of thousands of illegal migrants have been warned they could be deported to Rwanda after a breakthrough deal with Kigali.
The Home Office has dramatically expanded the size of the cohort which could be ordered on to a one-way flight.
The 2022 deal struck with the Rwanda Government focused on the Channel migrants who crossed after the landmark agreement.
But officials have confirmed failed asylum seekers who arrived before April 2022 are now eligible for deportation to Kigali.
At least 43,682 migrants crossed the Channel between January 2018 and the end of March 2022, analysis by the Daily Express has revealed.
Home Secretary James Cleverly said: "Those who have no right to remain in the UK should not be allowed to stay.
"We have a safe third country ready and waiting to accept people, offer them support across the board and help rebuild their lives.
"We continue to swiftly detain those in line for removal to ensure we have a steady drumbeat of flights to Rwanda."
The number will be whittled down, in the same way that the cohort who arrived after the Rwanda partnership was agreed.
The Daily Express understands the changes were made to incorporate anyone who has arrived in the UK illegally.
Only those who have lost every appeal will then be eligible for deportation to Rwanda.
Failed asylum seekers will receive the same packages - including education, training, employment and housing - as those who arrived in the UK after the deal was struck.
And the Home Office has confirmed more migrants have been detained ahead of the first flights to Kigali, expected to be either in late June or early June.
Home Office Director of Enforcement Eddy Montgomery said: "We have been working to deliver this large-scale and complex operation.
"My teams are made up of highly trained, specialist officers and are fully equipped to carry out the necessary enforcement activity at pace and in the safest way possible."
Some 9,550 migrants have crossed the Channel this year, up 40 per cent from the 6,844 at this point last year.
And 14 people have died so far this year attempting to reach the UK.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Home Secretary James Cleverly are scrambling to restore control of Britain's borders after growing concern among voters about immigration.
Both Mr Sunak and Mr Cleverly also want to slash net migration amid criticism from backbenchers and the public.
But they were given a huge pre-election boost on Tuesday when the Government's chief migration adviser, Professor Brian Bell, predicted Mr Sunak has a "fighting chance" of cutting it to as low as 150,000.
Professor Bell said a ban on foreign students and overseas care workers bringing their family members with them was having a far bigger impact than the Government expected.
And he told MPs on the Home Affairs Committee: "I think all advanced economies are desperate to get care workers. I don't think we're unique in that.
"The Home Office assessment of their policy in December said 'we're going to assume, because we are desperate for workers in that area, and because it is still an attractive offer for foreign workers to come to the UK, that we would be able to replace anyone who doesn't come because they couldn't bring a dependant with someone who is either happy to leave their dependants in their home country, or someone who is single.
"In the last few months, there has been a significant decline in the number of people applying for visas under the health route.
"I suspect there will be a significant fall in the numbers that will come. I don't think there will be a one-to-one replacement with people who can't bring dependants."
Professor Bell rejected calls to abolish the graduate visa route, admitting it could spark a crisis in university funding.
He added: "An awful lot of the decline we are going to see in the next year, we have already seen the numbers declining, we're going to see more of that.
"That's probably separate from Government policy. That is just a readjustment of the market.
"Why did the universities do it? Because their funding model is in crisis.
"They lose money on teaching domestic students. Structurally, they lose money on research.
"The early indications are that international postgraduate applications look like they are down quite significantly. If you did something on the graduate route as well, that would exacerbate that fall."
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