New UK interior minister vows to resolve immigration scandal

Britain's new interior minister vowed Monday to sort out an immigration scandal shaking the government, saying that as the child of immigrants he was angered by the mistreatment of long-term residents from the Caribbean.

Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Sajid Javid arrives for a cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street in London, Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2017. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Home Secretary Sajid Javid said he would do "whatever it takes" to resolve the status of all those who have become innocent casualties of the Conservative government's tough immigration policies.

"We will do right by the Windrush generation," Javid told lawmakers in the House of Commons.

Prime Minister Theresa May appointed Javid to the key job Monday, hours after predecessor Amber Rudd resigned over her role in what has become known as the Windrush scandal.

The furor began weeks ago when the Guardian newspaper reported that some people from the Caribbean who have lived in Britain for decades had been refused medical care or threatened with deportation because they couldn't produce paperwork proving their right to reside in the country.

FILE - In this Thursday, Sept. 21, 2017 file photo Britain's Home Secretary Amber Rudd looks at the media as she arrives for a Cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street, in London. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, File)

Those affected are known as the "Windrush generation" after the ship Empire Windrush, which in 1948 brought hundreds of Caribbean immigrants to a Britain seeking nurses, railway workers and others to help it rebuild after the devastation of World War II.

They and many subsequent Commonwealth immigrants had an automatic right to settle in the U.K. But some have now been denied housing, jobs or medical treatment because of requirements that employers and doctors check people's immigration status. Others have been told by the government that they are in Britain illegally and must leave.

Outrage at their treatment has piled pressure on May, who was home secretary between 2010 and 2016 and introduced tough immigration policies intended to make Britain a "hostile environment" for unauthorized migrants.

"It is the prime minister who has created the fundamental reasons for the Windrush scandal," said Joanna Cherry, home affairs spokeswoman for the opposition Scottish National Party.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid poses for photographers outside the Home Office in Westminster, London, Monday April 30, 2018. (Dominic Lipinski/PA via AP)

Javid, the son of Pakistani immigrants, is the first politician from an ethnic minority to hold one of the four top jobs in Britain's government — prime minister, finance minister, foreign secretary and home secretary.

"Like the Caribbean Windrush generation, my parents came to this country from the Commonwealth in the 1960s," Javid said. "They too came to help rebuild this country and offer all that they had."

Javid said that when he saw the plight of the Windrush migrants, "I thought that it could be my mum, my brother, my uncle or even me."

He distanced himself from the phrase "hostile environment," saying "it is a phrase that is unhelpful and it does not represent our values as a country."

Immigration is a divisive issue in Britain, and reducing the number of newcomers was a major factor for many voters who in 2016 backed leaving the European Union. The Conservative government has an oft-stated but long-unmet goal of reducing net immigration below 100,000 people a year, less than half the current level.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid walks back into the Home Office in Westminster, London, after posing for photographers Monday April 30, 2018. (Dominic Lipinski/PA via AP)

Still, the treatment of the Windrush generation has sparked dismay across the political spectrum in Britain.

Rudd and May both apologized repeatedly, saying that all pre-1973 Commonwealth immigrants who don't already have British citizenship will get it and those affected will get compensation.

But Rudd's position worsened after she told lawmakers last week that the government didn't have targets for deporting people — only for a 2017 memo to emerge that mentioned specific targets for "enforced removals."

Rudd said she didn't see the memo, but The Guardian later published a leaked letter she wrote to the prime minister discussing an aim of increasing removals by 10 percent.

Britain's opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, centre, poses for selfies as he meets people from the Caribbean and the West Indies, members of the Stockwell Good Neighbours community group, in Kennington, south London, Monday April 30, 2018. (Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP)

In a resignation letter to the prime minister, Rudd said she had "inadvertently" misled lawmakers. May said she accepted that Rudd had spoken "in good faith" and was sorry to see her resign.

The Windrush scandal is also causing anxiety for the 3 million European Union citizens living in Britain who are concerned about their immigration status after the country leaves the EU next March. The British government says they will be allowed to stay.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A church volunteer stood at an apartment door, beckoning inside a Congolese family for their first look at where they would live in America.

“Your new house!” volunteer Dan Davidson exclaimed as the couple and the woman's brother stepped into the two-bedroom apartment in South Carolina's capital, smiling tentatively at what would come next.

Inside, church volunteers had made quilts for the beds and set out an orange and yellow plastic dump truck and other toys for the couple's son. The family watched closely as a translator showed them key features in their apartment: which knob matched which burner on the stovetop, how the garbage disposal and window blinds worked. They practiced working the thermostat and checked the water in the shower.

“We are so happy to get this place,” Kaaskile Kashindi said through a translator.

Now 28, Kashindi was born in Congo and fled with his family at age 3 to a refugee camp in Tanzania, where he lived until this spring. That’s when he, his wife, little boy and brother-in-law moved to Columbia, a university town of 140,000 people.

“We’re still new. We just need help right now," Kashindi said.

Scenes like this are becoming more common as the American refugee program, long a haven for people fleeing violence around the world, rebounds from years of cutbacks under Donald Trump's administration. The Biden administration has worked to streamline the process of screening and placing people in America while refugee resettlement agencies have opened new sites across the country.

If President Joe Biden meets his target of 125,000 refugees admitted this year, it would be the highest number of arrivals in more than three decades.

Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee in a 2020 rematch with Biden this fall, has pledged to bar refugees from Gaza and reinstate his Muslim ban if elected, while also putting in place “ideological screening” for all immigrants. Trump's website highlights his first-term decision to temporarily suspend the refugee program.

Even with immigration — legal or not — a divisive campaign issue, many who help refugees settle in the United States say the growing numbers of refugees have been generally welcomed by communities and employers in need of workers.

The word refugee is sometimes broadly used to refer to anyone fleeing war or persecution. Often it's conflated with asylum-seekers who come directly to the U.S.-Mexico border. People like the family from Congo are coming through a different process, starting with an application abroad and with thorough vetting that can take years.

Usually they are referred to U.S. officials by the U.N. refugee agency, then interviewed by American immigration officials. There are background checks and medical screening.

The lucky few who are approved fly to towns across America to start new lives with the help of a nationwide network of resettlement agencies. They are eligible to become citizens eventually.

For decades, America led the world in refugee admissions in a program that had wide bipartisan support. Trump cut the program to the quick. By the time he left office in January 2021, he had set a record low goal of 15,000 refugees admitted a year. But even that mark wasn't hit: Only 11,814 refugees came to the U.S. in Trump's last year, compared with 84,994 at the end of the Obama administration.

Biden said he would reestablish the U.S. as a haven for refugees. It took a while.

His administration is now admitting more refugees and added about 150 new resettlement sites nationwide, said Sarah Cross, deputy assistant secretary for the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration.

To reach a goal of 125,000 refugees admitted this year — the highest number since 1992 — the department has been increasing its overseas processing and making changes that streamline all the checks refugees undergo while keeping screening rigorous, Cross said. It has hired more staff and is doing more trips to interview prospective refugees overseas.

In 2020, Lutheran Services Carolinas resettled about 40 refugees in Columbia. This year, the organization expects to welcome about 440, said Seth Hershberger, the nonprofit’s refugee resettlement and immigration director. It has opened new sites in Charleston, Greenville and Myrtle Beach.

“It is chaotic sometimes," Hershberger said from the agency’s office, tucked into a Lutheran church. “But with the support we’ve had ... it’s been a good, good journey.”

The office is a bustle of case managers, employment specialists and other staffers; some were once refugees themselves. These staff and volunteers usually meet arriving refugees, making sure a meal they recognize is waiting for them.

From there, it's a whirlwind of medical appointments, registration at government offices, opening a bank account, enrolling kids in school and eventually moving into permanent housing such as the Kashindi family's apartment. They take classes in what is called “survival English” — how to call 911 if someone is sick, for example, or remembering your address so you can tell someone if you get lost.

In one recent class, five refugees sat at desks at a local church. Down the hall, a volunteer watched their kids so they could work on learning a new language.

The lesson was focused on calendars and days of the week, interspersed with a bit of American culture.

“In America, the calendar is very important. ... There’s a lot of dates you’ll need to know,” said teacher Sarah Lewis, such as their children’s birthdays, doctor’s appointments and much more.

Two students were sisters from Honduras who had fled their homes and traveled to Mexico, where they lived for about a year until they learned they had been approved to come to South Carolina.

Leliz Bonilla Castro said she didn't know much about Columbia when she arrived but she liked the warm weather and welcoming people. She said the refugee program had given her and her three children a future.

“For those who want and have the opportunity to come (to this country), it is the best way to save your life and to have a better future for your kids, which are the ones we think about the most as parents,” she said through a translator.

It wasn’t too long ago that South Carolina was one of many Republican-leaning states that balked at efforts to bring in Syrian refugees.

Hershberger, the Lutheran Services resettlement chief, pointed to another event — the U.S. evacuation of tens of thousands of Afghans from Kabul during the 2021 troop withdrawal — as a game-changer. It led to an outpouring from Americans wanting to help.

“When they saw people grabbing onto the planes and fleeing for their lives, I think that really struck a chord with a lot of people,” he said.

The nonprofit also hears from employers eager for workers, Hershberger said.

One of them is Jordan Loewen, whose Columbia-based company cleans facilities or fleets like big garbage trucks. It’s “dirty, hard work,” he said.

During the pandemic when it was tough to find workers, someone suggested he hire refugees. Loewen gave it a shot, and now refugees account for nearly half his staff. He also recommends the resettlement program to other employers.

In addition to getting workers, he said, “It’s amazing hearing what these guys have come out of and the struggles that they’ve gone through in their life to get to this point of being in America."

Global Refuge, one of 10 national resettlement agencies that work with local networks like the one in Columbia, is preparing for what a Trump presidency might mean for its work.

“It’s a huge cloud. We feel like we may be running up against a cliff here," said Megan Bracy, the organization’s resettlement director.

Cross, from the State Department, said the focus is on the momentum in bringing more refugees and the nationwide support that's followed.

“It’s also a program that we see so many Americans eager to continue,” she said.

Congo refugee Aline Mugabekazi, left, with Lutheran Services Carolinas case manager Raja Alshuaibi, communicate with each other through an interpreter on the phone, Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. The American refugee program, which long served as a haven for people fleeing violence around the world, is rebounding from years of dwindling arrivals under former President Donald Trump. The Biden administration has worked to restaff refugee resettlement agencies and streamline the process of vetting and placing people in America. (AP Photo/Erik Verduzco)

Congo refugee Aline Mugabekazi, right, with Lutheran Services Carolinas case manager Raja Alshuaibi, retrieves her bag at the airport, Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. The American refugee program, which long served as a haven for people fleeing violence around the world, is rebounding from years of dwindling arrivals under former President Donald Trump. The Biden administration has worked to restaff refugee resettlement agencies and streamline the process of vetting and placing people in America. (AP Photo/Erik Verduzco)

Volunteer Cheryl Johnson donates boxes of food to Lutheran Services Carolinas, Thursday, April 11, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. The American refugee program, which long served as a haven for people fleeing violence around the world, is rebounding from years of dwindling arrivals under former President Donald Trump. The Biden administration has worked to restaff refugee resettlement agencies and streamline the process of vetting and placing people in America. (AP Photo/Erik Verduzco)

Lutheran Services Carolinas refugee settlement director Seth Hershberger, right, speaks to a staff member, Thursday, April 11, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. The American refugee program, which long served as a haven for people fleeing violence around the world, is rebounding from years of dwindling arrivals under former President Donald Trump. The Biden administration has worked to restaff refugee resettlement agencies and streamline the process of vetting and placing people in America. (AP Photo/Erik Verduzco)

Toys are seen inside the furnished new apartment of a family from Congo, Thursday, April 11, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. The American refugee program, which long served as a haven for people fleeing violence around the world, is rebounding from years of dwindling arrivals under former President Donald Trump. The Biden administration has worked to restaff refugee resettlement agencies and streamline the process of vetting and placing people in America. (AP Photo/Erik Verduzco)

Lutheran Services Carolinas outreach coordinator supervisor Sarah Lewis, center, teaches an English class for recently arrived refugees, Thursday, April 11, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. The American refugee program, which long served as a haven for people fleeing violence around the world, is rebounding from years of dwindling arrivals under former President Donald Trump. The Biden administration has worked to restaff refugee resettlement agencies and streamline the process of vetting and placing people in America. (AP Photo/Erik Verduzco)

Congo refugee Riziki Kashindi tours her new apartment, Thursday, April 11, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. The American refugee program, which long served as a haven for people fleeing violence around the world, is rebounding from years of dwindling arrivals under former President Donald Trump. The Biden administration has worked to restaff refugee resettlement agencies and streamline the process of vetting and placing people in America. (AP Photo/Erik Verduzco)

Refugees who recently arrived from Congo and Honduras participate in an English class, Thursday, April 11, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. The American refugee program, which long served as a haven for people fleeing violence around the world, is rebounding from years of dwindling arrivals under former President Donald Trump. The Biden administration has worked to restaff refugee resettlement agencies and streamline the process of vetting and placing people in America. (AP Photo/Erik Verduzco)

Congo refugees Riziki Kashindi, from left, and her brother Kaaskile Kashindi, receive an English lesson from Lutheran Services Carolinas employment specialist Yvonne Songolo and outreach coordinator supervisor Sarah Lewis, Thursday, April 11, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. The American refugee program, which long served as a haven for people fleeing violence around the world, is rebounding from years of dwindling arrivals under former President Donald Trump. The Biden administration has worked to restaff refugee resettlement agencies and streamline the process of vetting and placing people in America. (AP Photo/Erik Verduzco)

Leliz Bonilla Castro, left, and her sister Xochina Michelle Castro, refugees from Honduras, participate in an English class, Thursday, April 11, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. The American refugee program, which long served as a haven for people fleeing violence around the world, is rebounding from years of dwindling arrivals under former President Donald Trump. The Biden administration has worked to restaff refugee resettlement agencies and streamline the process of vetting and placing people in America. (AP Photo/Erik Verduzco)

Lutheran Services Carolinas employment specialist Yvonne Songolo, left, and volunteer David Tait, center, get ready to present a new apartment to a refugee family from Congo, Thursday, April 11, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. The American refugee program, which long served as a haven for people fleeing violence around the world, is rebounding from years of dwindling arrivals under former President Donald Trump. The Biden administration has worked to restaff refugee resettlement agencies and streamline the process of vetting and placing people in America. (AP Photo/Erik Verduzco)

Lutheran Services Carolinas employment specialist Yvonne Songolo, from left, gives Congo refugees Riziki Kashindi and her husband Sadock Ekyochi, a tour of their new apartment, Thursday, April 11, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. The American refugee program, which long served as a haven for people fleeing violence around the world, is rebounding from years of dwindling arrivals under former President Donald Trump. The Biden administration has worked to restaff refugee resettlement agencies and streamline the process of vetting and placing people in America. (AP Photo/Erik Verduzco)

Congo refugee Riziki Kashindi, left, receives a tour of her new apartment from Lutheran Services Carolinas employment specialist Yvonne Songolo, Thursday, April 11, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. The American refugee program, which long served as a haven for people fleeing violence around the world, is rebounding from years of dwindling arrivals under former President Donald Trump. The Biden administration has worked to restaff refugee resettlement agencies and streamline the process of vetting and placing people in America. (AP Photo/Erik Verduzco)

Refugees from Congo Sadock Ekyochi, from left, his wife Riziki Kashindi and her brother Kaaskile Kashindi pose for a photo inside their new apartment, Thursday, April 11, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. The American refugee program, which long served as a haven for people fleeing violence around the world, is rebounding from years of dwindling arrivals under former President Donald Trump. The Biden administration has worked to restaff refugee resettlement agencies and streamline the process of vetting and placing people in America. (AP Photo/Erik Verduzco)