Daughter of Windrush immigrant facing imminent deportation despite dying mother and young grandchildren in UK

Exclusive: Yvonne Williams, whose mother arrived from Jamaica in 1962, is detained in Yarl’s Wood and faces being removed from Britain despite all her family being based in the country

Prior to her detention, Ms Williams was the main carer for her young grandchildren, who along with her siblings, mother and children, all have British citizenship

The daughter of a woman who arrived in the UK with the Windrush generation is facing imminent removal despite all of her family, including her dying mother, being based in Britain.

Jamaican national Yvonne Williams, 59, was detained in Yarl’s Wood last August and has been served notice that she could be deported at any point in the next 72 hours, after a number of submissions for right to remain and asylum claims were rejected by the Home Office.

Speaking to The Independent from the detention centre, Ms Williams said she feared being alone and “living on the streets” if she was sent back to Jamaica, where she has no family ties since the death of her grandmother in 2000.

Prior to her detention, Ms Williams was the main carer for her young grandchildren, who along with her siblings, mother and children, all have British citizenship. Her 82-year-old mother, who came to Britain in 1962, is living in a care home. Ms Williams had been visiting her once a week before she was detained in Yarl’s Wood.

Since she arrived in the UK 16 years ago on a six-month visa, when she and her children joined the rest of her family after the death of her grandmother in Jamaica, Ms Williams has made at least eight applications for her right to remain – all of which have been rejected.

Before she was detained last August, Ms Williams was living in Oxford where she cared for her UK-born grandchildren, aged seven and 14, in the mornings and after school while her daughter worked. Prior to this she had cared for her other grandchildren, who are now adults, after their mother – her daughter – died of breast cancer.

Kareca Jones, her 40-year-old daughter, said the absence of her mother was having a profound effect on the family, leaving them financially worse off because she has had to reduce her hours due to lack of childcare, as well as causing stress to her children.

“On Saturday morning I was getting my daughter dressed to go to church, when she said, ‘I’m really stressed’. I said ‘What? You’re seven years old.’ She said she was stressed about Nanny,” Ms Jones told The Independent.

Ms Williams had been visiting her elderly Windrush mother in a care home once a week before she was detained in Yarl's Wood (Yvonne Williams)

“She asked me ‘What am I supposed to do without her? She’s going to get deported.’ Nanny used to pick her up from school. She used to help her with her homework.

“And my 14-year-old son – since this happened he is giving us problems. He’s neglecting school work and not really listening to me. I think he’s worried about what’s happening.”

Ms Jones, who works as a cleaner, said she has had to give up her early shifts – five hours of work per day – since her mother was detained, because she was the one who used to get the children ready for school.

“This is impacting us very much financially. I earn £1,250 a month and £850 of that goes on rent. We can’t afford to visit her much anymore because we have to pay about £100 to someone each time for petrol,” she said.

“I don’t know what would happen if she were sent back. I can’t afford to pay rent for her. We’re really struggling without her. It’s very stressful.”

Speaking from Yarl's Wood, Ms Williams said: “I’m very stressed. I can’t cope anymore. It’s very depressing and stressful being locked up every day.

“I have no one in Jamaica. I would be on the streets. The judge said I can go to Jamaica and my family here can support me, but they don’t have enough money to do that.

“My mother is ill. I used to go see her every week, but I haven’t been able to see her since August. If they send me to Jamaica I’m scared my mum will die; I’m scared I won’t see her.”

The Home Office has declined to comment.