Caribbean Current: Plight of Windrush generation mirrored in U.S.

Lately, many Caribbean people who keep up with world news have been hearing more and more about the Windrush generation and the British government’s efforts to identify and deport those identified as being in the country illegally.

According to BBC News, “It is unclear how many people belong to the Windrush generation, since many of those who arrived as children traveled on parents’ passports and never applied for travel document, but they are thought to be in the thousands.”

What does this mean? Well, the Windrush generation are those individuals who accepted an invitation from the British government to immigrate to England between 1948 and 1971 during a labor shortage. They helped to rebuild the country, especially after World War II.

The 1948 British Nationality Act gave citizenship to all people living in the United Kingdom and its colonies, which means these people, including the Windrush generation, had the right to freely travel and live anywhere in the British Commonwealth. At the same time, the United States passed an immigration law that restricted entry into the country. So naturally, Caribbean immigrants jumped at the opportunity to go to the U.K. through a hassle-free immigration process.

By 1956, more than 40,000 immigrants from the West Indies and Caribbean regions had moved to England.

With recent changes in the British laws, the question of who is covered under the Windrush generation has been put under a microscope. The immigrants who fall into this category are required to produce some type of written proof that they are in the United Kingdom legally or face deportation. Not only that but they are being denied access to government welfare services such as health care and social security.

The situation has put many in a dilemma when it comes to paying taxes or drawing on pension contributions. Imagine paying into a pension plan for 30 or 40 years and then being stuck in limbo when it is time for a withdrawal.

A similar scenario has been playing out in the United States regarding the Dreamer generation and with immigrants who are green card holders. The Dreamers are young people brought into the country as infants or young children by their illegal immigrant parent and have lived in the U.S. ever since. They too have had to justify their existence here and they too have had government services withheld from them.

Much like the Windrush generation, a large number of our Caribbean brothers and sisters entered the United States legally with green cards. Many of them came to the U.S. as young children and they were educated in this public school system. They live their entire adult lives as U.S. citizens but the bottom line is they are not naturalized.

These immigrants do have a green card and can enjoy all that the United States has to offer but the difference is they cannot vote and there are federal jobs that they cannot apply for. The only problem is that many are NOT aware of the fact that their green card has an expiration date.

Many of these immigrants have shared that they intend to move back home so they do not see the need to apply for citizenship. In this anti-immigrant climate in which we are living it only makes sense that we all protect our own future and the future of our children by becoming U.S. citizens. Case and point, someone who we know very well who has been in this country over 40 years was charged with a misdemeanor crime. He was deported because when they checked it out his green card had expired.

Caribbean people, whether you are in the U.S. or over in the U.K., please know your immigration status. If you are not a naturalized citizen, get educated about the ever-changing immigration laws. Mek sure seh yuh deh ya good.

And for all you men and a few women who insist that they are moving back home, just know that the Caribbean governments do recognize dual citizenship. So when one becomes a U.S. citizen, the individual does not lose the citizenship of his or her country of origin.