According to new government proposals, some asylum seekers who cross the Channel to the UK would be offered a one-way ticket to Rwanda.
The majority of the defendants will be single guys who will arrive by boat or lorry.
The £120 million initiative, according to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, would "rescue countless lives" from human trafficking.
Refugee groups have branded the proposal inhumane, questioned its cost and impact, and expressed alarm about Rwanda's human rights record.
Mr Johnson claimed in a speech in Kent that action was needed to prevent "vile people smugglers" from turning the seas into a "watery tomb," and that the "humane and compassionate" strategy was meant to disrupt their economic model. He said he intended to make it plain to individuals coming on the Kent shore that legal ways were preferable, and that the new approach would "prove to be a very significant deterrent over time."
There were 28,526 persons who crossed in tiny boats last year, up from 8,404 in 2020.
On Wednesday, some 600 individuals crossed the border, with Mr Johnson estimating that the number may rise to 1,000 every day in the coming weeks.
Mr Johnson stated that the system would be unlimited, would apply to people who entered the country unlawfully after January 1, and may touch tens of thousands in the coming years.