More reception centres for asylum seekers in sweeping changes to law

David Blunkett will launch the expansion of controversial reception centres for asylum seekers tomorrow as part of the most sweeping changes in immigration laws for a decade.

The Home Secretary will fulfil his commitment to scrap the hated system of vouchers, which stigmatised asylum seekers, and will propose a range of measures to speed up the handling of asylum seekers' claims so that they can be assessed, and, in most cases, removed from Britain.

For the first time, thousands of those seeking to enter Britain illegally at Dover and Folkestone could apply for "green cards" to enter legally, and earn a living in sectors where there are shortages, such as the construction industry and tourism and as seasonal farm labourers.

Mr Blunkett believes adopting the US "green card" system is a more humane approach to the mass migration of people for economic reasons. It will also help to destroy the illegal trade in immigrants.

The practice of holding some asylum seekers in prisons is to be phased out along with the dispersal programme introduced by Jack Straw.

But the Home Secretary will face criticism from civil liberties groups as he proposes wider use of reception centres. He overturned a court ruling that the Home Office detention of asylum seekers at the Government's Oakington centre in Cambridgeshire was illegal, but a fresh appeal could be mounted.

"The Oakington centre has everything for them – they can get haircuts, there is a health clinic there, and they can get food and clothing," said one union source.

Home Office officials have reviewed the extra space that could be made available in other former army camps. There will be a clampdown on failed asylum seekers to increase the removal rate from 800 a month to 2,500 by next April, but doubts will remain whether officials can process the cases fast enough.

Some Labour opponents of the voucher system conceded last night that the reception centres were more humane than dispersing asylum seekers to live in poverty in rundown council flats in Glasgow and other cities, where they have been subjected to attacks.

In a more far-reaching move, the Home Secretary will also announce a white paper on citizenship. Speaking on BBC radio's Any Questions, he said he would expect immigrants to learn English voluntarily, for their own good and for their children to gain advantages in society. He hinted that immigrants could be required to pass tests in citizenship to gain rights of naturalisation.

Mr Blunkett will stress that the overall package is aimed at bringing some coherence to the chaos seen at ports of entry during the summer.