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Theresa May boasted as home secretary that she would 'deport first and hear appeals later' as part of her 'hostile environment' policy.

Her policies have been credited with creating the scandal of members of the Windrush generation threatened with deportation.

In 2013 she made a provocative claim in a debate about the immigration bill promising to "cut abuse of the appeals process".

It was part of her so-called hostile environment policy which also led to the home office sending vans encouraging illegal immigrants to "Go Home" into multicultural areas.

(Image: PARLIAMENT TV)

Theresa May promised to "extend the number of non-suspensive appeals so that, where there is no risk of serious and irreversible harm, we can deport first and hear appeals later".

Non-suspensive means that someone only has the right to appeal after they have left the UK.

Earlier this week Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn blamed the prime minister for the plight of Caribbean nationals with every right to live in Britain being deported.

(Image: PARLIAMENT TV)

Mr Corbyn told the Commons: “This is a shameful episode and the responsibility for it lies firmly at the Prime Minister’s door.

“Her pandering to bogus immigration targets led to a hostile environment for people contributing to our country.”

(Image: PARLIAMENT TV)

David Lammy, who has been a leading campaigner on this issue, flagged the comments from 2013 where he challenged the then Home Secretary's stance.

He said on Twitter: "In October 2013 theresa_may proudly boasted that she would "deport first and hear appeals later". I opposed her then and I oppose her now. Theresa May must take responsibility for the Windrush crisis. It is because of her race to the bottom pandering to anti-immigrant sentiment."