PLANS to introduce digital ID cards – but just for immigrants – are being worked on by the government. 

The digital document will prove the person has a right to live and work in the UK and be uploaded onto their mobile phone. 

But UK and Irish citizens will not have to carry one.

Government insiders believe it will help them find and deport illegal immigrants and curb Britain’s black market – worth an astonishing £260 billion. 

It comes after The Sun revealed small boat migrants are brazenly breaking the law by working as Deliveroo and Just Eat delivery riders.

A source told The Sun on Sunday: “Digital ID cards are being looked at – but only for immigrants.

“I think it is very unlikely they would be introduced for UK or Irish citizens.”

More than 22,000 Channel boat migrants have already arrived in Britain’s shores this year, smashing all previous records.

And the number is expected to soar as more dinghies arrive in the heatwave.

PM Sir Keir Starmer has vowed to smash the people smuggling gangs and stop the boats, but so far has woefully failed.

But many politicians – including French President Emmanuel Macron – have warned that Britain is a magnet for illegal migrants because it is so easy to work in the black market here.

Tony Blair and David Blunkett have called for ID cards to tackle the scourge of illegal immigration.

And over 40 Labour MPs have written an open letter to No10 throwing their weight behind the demand.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has previously suggested an immigrant ID card could be brought in.

She told MPs last month: “We also want to ensure e-visas can effectively be used as a way of having that digital ID around the ability to work, to be here lawfully.”

Previous attempts to bring in ID cards by the new Labour government were torpedoed after an outcry by civil liberties campaigners.

But an immigrant-only digital document could be a compromise that avoids a massive public backlash.