The introductory chapter opens with a stark image of what deported ‘Black Britons’ are returned to when they arrive back in Jamaica. It then situates the deportation stories in the book in wider historical context, tracing how the turn to deportation emerged in the UK and other countries of the global North. The chapter then provides a recent history of the figure of the ‘foreign criminal’ in British political discourse, before tracking the journey from Empire Windrush to the deportation of ‘Black Britons’ today. Next, after introducing the theoretical framework and explaining the book’s core focus on the connection between racism and immigration control, the chapter turns to questions of methodology, offering a vivid account of how the research was conducted, and discussing some of the ethical and political questions that emerged in the process.