Disabled Canadian fought deportation from U.K. after 4 decades
Margaret O’Brien, 69, moved to England when Commonwealth citizens were free to live and work in Britain
For two years, Margaret O'Brien, 69, had her disability payments withheld and was threatened with deportation, after the U.K. government told her she'd been living in the country illegally for more than four decades.
The Toronto-born woman moved to Wolverhampton, England, in 1971, before stricter immigration laws came into effect making it more difficult for Commonwealth citizens to take up residence in U.K.
She married a British citizen, had three children and worked for her local council for more than 25 years as a cleaner, meals on wheels driver, school cafeteria worker and crossing guard.
Then a disc collapsed in her neck. The resulting spinal cord injury left her unable to work, so she applied for disability benefits.
That's when she got the letter from the U.K. Home Office in 2015 informing her she did not "have permission" to be in the U.K. and "should make arrangements to leave without delay."
If she didn't leave, it warned, she could be deported or jailed.
"I thought it was a joke," O'Brien told As It Happens host Carol Off. "I was absolutely gobsmacked. I just didn't know what to do."
O'Brien's story surfaces as the so-called Windrush scandal unfolds in the U.K. leaving tens of thousands of Commonwealth immigrants vulnerable to detention or deportation.
Windrush scandal
The Windrush generation refers to individuals who were invited to Britain from Caribbean Commonwealth countries between 1948 and 1971 to fill labour shortfalls after the Second World War.
Before the Immigration Act came into effect in 1973, Commonwealth citizens and their children had the right to live and work in the U.K. without additional documentation.
The 1973 act granted indefinite leave to stay for those who had already arrived before the legislation came into effect, but the U.K. government did not keep documents related to the Windrush immigrants.
In 2012, then-interior minister Theresa May introduced new immigration laws requiring people to provide documentation in order to work, rent or access benefits.
The new rules left some 50,000 Windrush immigrants and their descendants in the lurch.
While O'Brien was also ensnared by May's immigration crackdown, she is hesitant to compare her story to the plight of the Windrush immigrants.
"I've got the similar circumstance to what these people have, but not on their scale. Mine's much lesser than theirs," she said.
She said her neighbour — a woman about her age — was placed in a detention facility for three months.
"To be taken away from your family for that length of time, it's terrible," she said. "I think I'd go nuts."
In a statement to the Guardian newspaper about O'Brien's case, the U.K. Home Office said: "The new dedicated team helping the Windrush generation will be on hand to assist undocumented long-resident Commonwealth citizens."
A 2-year battle
It took the O'Brien two years of navigating the British bureaucracy before she could finally prove she was in the country legally.
She dug up reams of documentation, including tax forms and letters from her landlord, doctor and local council, she said.
During that time she had to check in with the Home Office 40 kilometres from her home every three months — no easy feat for a woman who has no income and struggles to walk.
"It would take me nearly two hours to get there for the appointments," she said, adding each trip cost about 40 pounds ($70 Cdn) for transit fees and lunch.
Once she got there, she said she was "treated very badly" by staff — often made to wait for hours turned away if they were too busy.
She recalls one trip where she was accompanied by her daughter and granddaughter.
Her daughter saw a van pull away filled with people headed to a detention centre.
"She came over and gave me a hug," O'Brien said. "And she said, 'I thought you were in it."
- AS IT HAPPENS: Syrian stranded at Malaysia airport for weeks
- AS IT HAPPENS: Afghan man 'scared to go outside' after U.K. deported him to Kabul
The saga came to an end in September 2017 when a case worker from the Refugee and Migrant Centre discovered O'Brien's expired Canadian passport had a stamp from the Home Office granting an indefinite leave to remain in the U.K.
By that point, she said, she had already depleted her life savings and had to rely on her children for financial support.
Her disability payments were re-instated in December, but the experience has changed her view of the U.K. government, she said.
"I feel that I've been treated very badly," she said. "It's been eye-opening."
Written by Sheena Goodyear. Interview produced by Mary Newman.