New Zealander detained by ICE waits for decision on six-year-old son's release

RNZ News

a day ago

A GoFundMe has been set up for New Zealand woman Sarah Shaw and her six-year-old son Isaac.
Photo:
GoFundMe
A friend of Sarah Shaw, a
New Zealander detained at the US-Canada border
, says they're expecting to hear today whether her six-year-old son will be released.
Shaw and her son Isaac, who live in Washington state, were detained three weeks ago after dropping her other children off in Vancouver to catch a flight.
A graduate student working towards her masters degree and working for the state in corrections, Shaw had lived in America for the past three years.
Victoria Besancon explained that there were two parts to Shaw's visa, known as a "combo card" - first, an I-360 visa (the kind granting immigration status to a widow or, in Shaw's case, a victim of domestic violence), and second, an employment visa, which Shaw was granted when she was employed by the state.
Shaw was waiting on both parts of her visa to be renewed, but long wait times on I-360s meant this part was not renewed at the same time as her employment visa - but Shaw did not know that, Besancon said, assuming the visa card she received in the post meant she was fully approved.
Besancon said ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) officials at the border could have allowed Shaw to return anyway by filing for humanitarian parole, but due to increased detainment quotas and "the atmosphere in America right now", many people were being detained who normally would not have been.
Isaac, however, was being held illegally, she said, as he possessed all the right paperwork to re-enter the country. They were expecting a decision today on whether ICE would release him into her care.
Despite Isaac's paperwork, he was still detained along with his mother, which meant they needed to be kept in a family detainment centre - of which there are only three, with the nearest option to Washington state in Texas.
"Instead of being detained in her state of record, which is Washington, where her legal attorney would have had a much easier time defending her and requesting information, they took her multiple states away," Besancon said.
If Isaac was released, it would hopefully mean Shaw could be transported to a facility in her own state.
Retaining legal counsel in both states was expensive, on top of Shaw not being able to work.
The GoFundMe page Besanon set up for her friend had topped US$37,000 - that is, nearly NZ$64,000 - by Tuesday evening, leaving her "speechless".
"I was hoping to just get her rent covered for a month, I had no idea that this was going to get so much support."
As well as donations, they had also been receiving stories from other families who had experienced similar situations.
"I know it's really high on Sarah's priority list that when she does get out, to try and find a way to advocate for this."
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