NZ woman Sarah Shaw and young son in 'good spirits' since release from US immigration facility
Photo:
GoFundMe
The New Zealand woman
detained in a US immigration facility for weeks
with her six-year-old son is recovering at her Washington home after being released, says her lawyer.
Sarah Shaw and her son Isaac
were detained at the Canadian border
more than three weeks ago because she mistakenly tried to leave and re-enter the US without both parts of her visa approved.
While she was legally able to work in the US and was employed by the state of Washington, the paperwork she needed to travel was pending - something she did not realise at the time.
She had dropped her two older children off in Canada to catch a direct flight home to New Zealand.
Isaac had all the correct paper work, but was taken with Shaw to the Dilley Immigration Centre in Texas.
In the weeks following, Shaw's case got global media attention and the pair were released over the weekend.
Shaw's lawyer Minda Thorward told
Checkpoint
, mum and son seemed to be "doing well" since their release and sent her a photograph of the pair together in which they seemed to be "in good spirits".
"I talked to Sarah a little bit, but I think she was trying to spend the weekend recovering and recuperating and kind of just laying low, but I'll be talking to her again soon."
Being detained was a traumatic experience generally speaking, Thorward said.
An overhead view of Dilley Immigration Processing Centre in Dilley, Texas.
Photo:
Screenshot / Google Maps
"It's gonna have some traumatic impact, [that's] especially true for children... in a place like Dilly there's nothing to do... you have limited access to your lawyer, it's hard to talk to family, sort of isolating, a very difficult experience.
"I hope it won't have any lingering effects, but you never know with kids... just depends on the specific child, but I hope not."
It was unlikely there would be any legal repercussions for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Thorward said.
"Unfortunately there's such a broad discretion in terms of what ICE and border control can do at the border. We can't really sue or anything like that, I mean we could sue to get them out of detention..."
Thorward hoped Shaw would not be targeted further by ICE.
"Because of the continued media attention and broad community support... I'm really hopeful for a positive outcome for her case, but there's so much uncertainty in immigration law right now we just can't predict what's going to happen.
"But, I think the fact so many journalists are interested in this case is a really good thing, and I think we should not turn our backs, and we need to continue to shine a light on these abuses of discretion.
"I think continuing to allow for the public to see what's happening is what really needs to happen."
In terms of why Shaw's case had garnered so much attention from the media and wider public, Thorward said she believed part of it was down to the fact she was a "young, pretty, white, single mum".
"I think because she just really was someone who had really tried to do everything right, had checked all the right boxes as far as she knew, I'm not exactly sure but that's my theory."
International pressure was what saw Isaac and Shaw released, Thorward believed.
"All of the media attention, the New Zealand consulate being involved, it's a very high-profile case and ICE was very under the microscope here and they just caved to that pressure."
Thorward said Donald Trump's administration wanted to dramatically expand detention and it was likely those who would feel the worst of it were people of colour and marginalised communities.
"I think the people who will be targeted are people of colour and other marginalised communities... they will be a lot more vulnerable to abuse.
"I think it's going to be a really dangerous time in the US."
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