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LONDON — British Prime Minister Theresa May on Monday appointed the first ethnic-minority politician to the key post of home secretary, as the government struggled to contain a scandal over the mistreatment of long-term residents from the Caribbean.

Sajid Javid replaces Amber Rudd, who resigned late Sunday, saying she had “inadvertently” misled lawmakers about whether the government had deportation targets.

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The Windrush immigration scandal has dominated headlines in Britain for days and sparked intense criticism of the Conservative government’s tough policies.

The furor began when the Guardian newspaper reported that some people who came to the U.K. from the Caribbean in the decades after World War II had recently been refused medical care in Britain or threatened with deportation because they could not produce paperwork proving their right to reside in the country.

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Immigration is a divisive issue in Britain, with cutting the inflow of migrants a major factor for many voters who in 2016 backed leaving the European Union. The 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. Opponents say the government should drop that target.