Windrush Immigration

The government has quietly removed a key protection from the statute books for British residents of the Windrush generation who could face deportation.

The government has now put the onus on individuals to prove that they were resident in the UK before the 1st January 1973, the date the 1971 Immigration Act came into force.

However, a key clause from 1999 legislation, which had provided longstanding Commonwealth residents with protection from enforced removal, was deleted from the 2014 Immigration Act.

The government did not announce the removal of this clause, nor did it consult on the potential ramifications which has now caused undue stress and hardship.

The Home Office had been directed by Theresa May, then Home Secretary, to create what she termed a ‘hostile environment’ for people living in the UK without the right to do so.

The Home Office had already implemented a biometric identity card system for immigrants. This was to be used to underpin an elaborate system of immigration controls to be enforced by employers, landlords, hospitals, banks and others introduced by the Immigration Acts 2014 and 2016.

But the Commonwealth Citizens, including many children, had arrived decades before any of this was introduced. Some had lost passports, settled status letters and related documents. Some of the children may never have had these documents.

They grew up and many more years passed with their having no reason to worry their right to be in the UK, the country that had become their home, would ever be called into question.

But this is now being called into question by employers, landlords, hospitals, banks, social services, the benefits agency and the Home Office.

The Home Office has lost records. It has also refused or failed to check records it does have to confirm people’s status. Other government departments may have relevant records too. Most significantly, the Home Office is responsible for introducing changes to immigration policy – the introduction of biometrics and the later expansion of immigration checks dependent on these.

To make matters worse, government cuts to legal aid, particularly from 1 April 2013, have left many people without assistance to sort out disputes or doubts about their status. And the Home Office has been demanding a fee of £229.00 for people to obtain the biometric document which the Home Office, for its own reasons, has introduced years after they were settled here. The Home Secretary has now stated that this fee would no longer be charged.

We at Astute Legal Solicitors & Advocates can assist in making an application to the Home Office and ensure that your matter is dealt with sensitively. For those that have already been unlawfully deported, we can assist in seeking compensation on your behalf.

Please contact us.