NZ mum on being detained in US
New Zealand mother Sarah Shaw has spoken to media for the first time since her release, describing her three-week stay in a United States detainment centre.
Shaw and her six-year-old son Isaac were held at the facility in Dilley, Texas for three weeks after a mix-up with her visa at the Canadian border.
Speaking to King 5 news in her home state of Washington, still wearing an ankle monitor and facing further court dates, she described living in close quarters with dozens of other detainees, her son constantly with her.
"If I needed to go to the bathroom, Isaac was there, yelling at me outside the stall. If I wanted to take a shower he had to come with me, so we were completely joined at the hip."
She was detained on July 24, after driving across the border to Vancouver to put two of her three children on a direct flight to New Zealand to visit their grandparents.
The issue arose when she tried to re-enter the US without both parts of her visa renewed.
"I'd spoke to my attorney about it, and she'd said, 'You'll be fine, your paperwork's all valid'. She was kind of like, that would be worst-case-scenario. But I really didn't think that was going to happen."
She was detained by immigration officials and flown the centre in Texas - the nearest one which could accommodate families.
Her lawyer Minda Thorward told RNZ's Checkpoint programme yesterday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement had caved to the pressure, following international media coverage and involvement from New Zealand and US state officials.
But she was released with none of her documents and wearing an ankle monitor.
She was dropped off in Laredo, Texas, a two-and-a-half-hour drive from San Antonio airport, where her flight home was booked from - and only just made it onto the plane due to flight delays.
With more court appearances ahead, she was working with her lawyer to get the anklet removed.
Customs and Border Patrol told King 5 news: "When someone with an expired parole leaves the country and tries to re-enter the US, they will be stopped in compliance with our laws and regulations.
"If they are accompanied by a minor, CBP will follow all protocols to keep families together, or arrange care with a legal guardian."
A GoFundMe page set up to help pay her bills and rent while she was detained had by this afternoon raised more than $105,000 (more than $US61,000).
The page description has been updated thanking people for their support and saying "the fight is not over".
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