U.K. minister quits amid immigration scandal
LONDON — Britain’s interior minister resigned Sunday amid a scandal over authorities’ mistreatment of longterm U.K. residents wrongly caught up in a government drive to reduce illegal immigration.
Prime Minister There’s
May’s office said late Sunday that May had accepted the resignation of Home Secretary Amber Rudd.
The scandal has dominated headlines in Britain and doctors check people’s ian later pubfor days and has sparked immigration status. Others lished a leaked letter she intense criticism of the Conhave been told by the govwrote to the prime minister servative government’s tough ernment that they are in discussing an aim of increasimmigration policies. Britain illegally and must ing removals by 10 percent.
Rudd had been due to leave. The Windrush debacle is make a statement to Par“What has happened to also causing anxiety for the 3 liament today over what has the Windrush generation million European Union citibecome known as the Winisn’t an anomaly. It’s not zens living in Britain who are drush scandal. due to an administrative concerned about their immi
The furor has grown since error. It’s a consequence gration status after the counthe Guardian newspaper of the hostile environment try leaves the EU next March. reported that some peocreated by this (Conserva- The British government says ple who came to the U.K. tive) government,” London they will be allowed to stay from the Caribbean in the Mayor Sadiq Khan, a mem- and has promised to set up decades after World War II ber of the opposition Labour a simple no-fuss registrahad recently been refused Party, said Sunday. tion process. medical care in Britain or In recent weeks Rudd and But Labour lawmaker threatened with deporta- May have apologized repeat- David Lammy, a strong tion because they could not edly to the Windrush gencritic of the government’s produce paperwork prov- eration, saying all pre-1973 immigration policies, said ing their right to reside in Commonwealth immigrants the scandal would cause EU the country. who don’t already have Brit- citizens to think, “My God,
Those affected belong ish citizenship will get it, and if this can happen to Winto the “Windrush generathose affected will get comdrush, of course it can haption,” named for the ship pensation. pen to us.”
Empire Windrush, which Rudd’s position worsened The Conservative governin 1948 brought hundreds after she told lawmakers ment has an oft-stated but of Caribbean immigrants last week that the governlong-unmet goal of reducto Britain, which was seek- ment did not have targets ing net immigration below ing nurses, railway work- for deporting people — only 100,000 people a year, less ers and others to help it for a 2017 memo to emerge than half the current level. rebuild after the devastathat mentioned specific tarMany voters who backed tion of World War II. gets for “enforced removals.” leaving the EU cited a desire
They and subsequent Rudd said she didn’t see to reduce the number of Caribbean migrants came the memo, but The Guardmigrants coming to Britain. from British colonies or ex-c o lonies a nd had an automatic right to settle in the U.K.
But s ome have been ensnared by tough new rules introduced since 2012 that are designed to make Britain a “hostile environment” for illegal immigrants.
Legal migrants have been denied housing, jobs or medical treatment in Britain because of requirements that landlords, employers