Good morning. In late 2017, the Guardian started publishing a series of stories that highlighted numerous cases of mistreatment from the Home Office towards Caribbean-born UK residents who had migrated during the Windrush era, between 1948 and 1971. For six months the investigation quietly rumbled on, revealing how people’s lives were destroyed after they were incorrectly classified as illegal immigrants, rendering them unable to stay employed, or to access housing or other public services. Many were deported to countries they had not lived in since they were children – 24 of those people died before the government could contact them to apologise for its error.
By the time of that apology, the issue had become a political scandal that resulted in the resignation of the home secretary, Amber Rudd. An independent review found uncovered “profound institutional failure” that had destroyed hundreds of people’s lives.
