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Home Secretary Suella Braverman has challenged critics to try to “get rid of me”, as she rejected claims she was to blame for dire conditions at a migrant processing centre.
She denied blocking the use of hotels to ease overcrowding at the centre.
She said her policies were designed to repel an “invasion” on the south coast.
But Labour said Ms Braverman was not fit for office and undermined Rishi Sunak’s claim he was bringing integrity back to government.
Labour’s shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said decision-making at the Home Office had “collapsed” on Ms Braverman’s watch and asked how “anyone is supposed to have confidence” in her.
Mr Sunak reappointed Ms Braverman as home secretary last week, only days after she quit over a security breach when Liz Truss was prime minister.
But the decisions Ms Braverman made in her first stint as home secretary have come under intense scrutiny, with some MPs calling for her to resign for a second time.
Some 4,000 people are being held at the Manston migrant processing centre, which is only designed to accommodate 1,600 people on a temporary basis.
Hundreds of people were moved there on Sunday after a man threw firebombs at an immigration centre in Dover, before killing himself.
Ms Cooper told MPs conditions at Manston “have been described as inhumane, with risks of fire, disorder and infection”.
Manston opened as a processing centre in February 2022, for the growing number of migrants reaching the UK in small boats.
Migrants are only supposed to be kept there for 24 hours for security and identity checks. They are then meant to be moved into the Home Office’s asylum accommodation system, which often means a hotel.
But when the chief inspector of immigration visited last week, he found some people had been there for over a month. That included one family who had been there for 32 days, sleeping on mats in a marquee.
Sir Roger Gale, Tory MP for North Thanet, where the centre is located, blamed Ms Braverman for the situation, accusing her of failing to commission extra accommodation.
He said the Manston site “operated absolutely magnificently and very efficiently indeed until five weeks ago”.
Sources have told the BBC the home secretary was warned by officials the government was acting outside the law by failing to provide alternative accommodation.
One source said the advice was “crystal clear”, while others called into question whether Ms Braverman could survive in her position.
But in a bullish statement in Parliament, Ms Braverman said “I have never ignored legal advice” by keeping people detained at Manston for longer than necessary.
Responding to questioning by Ms Cooper, Ms Braverman said on no occasion did she block hotels or “veto advice to procure extra and emergency accommodation”.
She claimed “on my watch” the use of 30 new hotels had been agreed since 6 September and she had “worked hard to find alternative accommodation to relieve the pressure at Manston”.
Some MPs believe she was choosing her words carefully when she made clear she did not “block” hotels for asylum seekers and that more were used “on her watch”.
Facing down critical MPs, the home secretary said she was determined to address the backlog in asylum claims and the number of migrants living in hotels.
So far this year, 39,898 people have made the journey from France on small boats, putting pressure on the UK’s asylum system.
Ms Braverman said her policies of co-operating with French authorities and sending some asylum seekers to Rwanda would curb Channel crossings.
“The British people deserve to know which party is serious about stopping the invasion on our southern coast,” Ms Braverman said, calling the current system “broken” and “out of control”.
“I’m determined to do whatever it takes,” she went on. “That is why I’m in government. That’s why some people would prefer to be rid of me.”
She then paused as her statement was interrupted by heckles from opposition MPs, before adding: “Let them try.”
Ms Braverman’s description of small boats crossing the Channel as an “invasion” has drawn condemnation, with one refugee charity calling her comments “indefensible”.
Tommy Sheppard, an MP for the Scottish National Party, accused Ms Braverman of “far-right and inflammatory rhetoric”.
In her statement, Ms Braverman warned against using “inflammatory language” and spoke of a “witch hunt” against her, as she attempted to rally support among Tory MPs.
But while home office ministers – including her political ally Steve Baker – joined her on the frontbench, many cabinet colleagues were conspicuous by their absence.
The row has increased the pressure on Ms Braverman, who is also facing questions over the use of her personal email for government business.
Her return as home secretary came as Mr Sunak sought to build a cabinet that unified a Conservative Party deeply divided after 12 years in power.
Mr Sunak has faced questions over his decision to reappoint Ms Braverman, only six days after she quit for breaching ministerial rules.
A popular MP on the right-wing of her party, Ms Braverman was keen to return as home secretary, but the scale of the challenge facing her is daunting.
A record number of migrants have arrived in the UK on small boats this year, with nearly 1,000 making the crossing on Saturday and a further 468 crossing on Sunday.
The government has said in the year ending June 2022, there were 63,089 asylum applications, 77% more than in 2019.
The UK is spending almost £7m a day on hotels for asylum seekers – and the cost is likely to rise, MPs heard last week.