The European Union yesterday laid out plans to overhaul its visa system and step up deportations as part of a five-year migration strategy that cements a hardening line on the hot-button issue. Irregular arrivals in the 27-nation bloc were down by more than a quarter in 2025, but political pressure to act remains high. “The priority is clear: bringing illegal arrival numbers down and keeping them down,” Magnus Brunner, EU’s migration commissioner, said. The strategy unveiled yesterday stressed the need to boost deportations of failed asylum-seekers among the bloc’s priorities. “Abuse gives migration a bad name -- it undermines public trust and ultimately takes away from our ability to provide protection and undercuts our drive to attract talent,” said Brunner.