Warnings ignored Detentions and deportations

October 2010

The Home Office under Theresa May authorises destruction of disembarkation cards for Windrush migrants dating back to the 1950s and 1960s due to lack of space. The papers were often the last remaining record of a migrant’s arrival.

November 2013

The first warnings are raised in parliament by Helen Jones, the then shadow Home Office minister. Ms Jones raised the problem of British citizens from ethnic minority backgrounds who had no paperwork – because they never previously needed it – suddenly being asked for biometric cards.

October 2014

The charity Legal Action Group publishes a report entitled Chasing Status which detailed cases in which migrants were suddenly being asked for proof of immigration status despite being in the UK for decades.

November 2016

Anthony Bryan, a Windrush migrant, is detained at an immigration detention centre and threatened with deportation, prompting protests. The Jamaican High Commissioner and fellow high commissioners begin raising the issue of forced removals with the Foreign Office.

January 2018

Labour MP Emma Reynolds asks the Home Office how many Commonwealth citizens legally resident in the UK have been deported since 2014. The Home Office refuses to carry out the checks due to “disproportionate cost”.