After meeting immigration lawyers and families affected by the policy on Monday (8 October), peers were set to force a last-minute amendment to the UK Borders Bill.
Section nine of the Asylum and Immigration Act 2004 allows the benefits of failed asylum seekers to be stopped if they refuse to leave the UK. It has left some families destitute and forced others into hiding to stop their children being taken into care.
The government's own evaluation showed the policy wasn't working, but ministers have insisted on keeping the measure, giving individual case workers discretion to stop benefits and take children into care.
Lisa Nandy, policy adviser for refugee and asylum-seeking children at The Children's Society, said: "We've always been utterly opposed to the policy as it makes children destitute and forces local authorities to split up families. We've seen the devastation it causes children. We're concerned about a government policy that puts children at risk while government agencies argue about the rights and wrongs of their immigration status."
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