The number of potential Windrush cases reported to the Home Office has passed the 5,000 mark.
They are among a total of 13,000 calls to a specialist unit set up within the department last month. The Home Office also disclosed that more than 850 people now have documentation following an appointment with the dedicated team.
The latest figures were revealed as the Home Office quietly announced the departure from the department of the director general of immigration enforcement, Hugh Ind.
Ind, who is moving to work at the Cabinet Office, was one of a number of officials questioned by the home affairs committee over Windrush and removal targets.
Amber Rudd, the then home secretary, told the committee that there were no targets for deportation and then was forced to resign when leaked letters emerged that suggested she knew that there was.
The home secretary, Sajid Javid, announced on Thursday that legislation had been introduced to bring into force a package of measures designed to help end the crisis.
Under the government’s scheme, fees for citizenship applications will be waived for Commonwealth nationals who settled in the UK before 1973 and children of the Windrush generation who joined their parents before they turned 18.
Applicants will need to meet the good character requirements in place for all citizenship applications – but they will not need to take a “knowledge of language and life in the UK” test or attend a citizenship ceremony.
Members of the Windrush group who have left the UK but are seeking to return will be able to apply for relevant documentation free of charge.
Last week, it emerged that 63 cases are being investigated in detail as part of efforts to check whether anyone was wrongly removed or deported as a result of the failings.
Theresa May’s “hostile environment” policies introduced when she was home secretary require employers, NHS staff, private landlords and other bodies to demand evidence of people’s citizenship or immigration status.
Members of the Windrush generation, who arrived in the UK from 1948 onwards, as well as their children, have been wrongly targeted by the policies.
Among those caught up are people forced out of work, in some cases for years, and unable to claim welfare support, as well as individuals wrongfully detained and in some cases deported. Lawyers have begun preparing group compensation claims on behalf of members of the Windrush generation.
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