I came to UK at 10 but they tried to deport me
PAULETTE Wilson arrived in Britain from Jamaica aged ten in 1968, raised her daughter here and has even worked as a cook in the House of Commons.
But the grandmother, 62, spent two years under the threat of deportation and was held in Yarl’s Wood detention centre before finally being told she could stay. Mrs Wilson, from Wolverhampton, said she did not understand when she first received a letter accusing her of being in the country illegally and was ‘walking around in a daze’ .
Her treatment helped expose the Windrush scandal, prompting many to come forward. But Mrs Wilson asked: ‘What about all the other people who were sent away before my case became big?
‘I’m still going through hell at the moment. I’m still hurt.’
Anthony Bryan, from London, was also nearly deported to Jamaica and held in a detention centre last year despite living in the UK since in 1965. His trouble began when he applied for a passport to visit his ailing mother in Jamaica.
Mr Bryan, 61, later lost his job after receiving a letter informing him he had no right to remain in the UK and said his treatment had ‘broken’ him. His wife Janet McKay-Williams worked tirelessly to secure his release from detention but he had amassed large debts before receiving official status in February.