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A young Kiwi mum and her 6-year-old son, currently being held in a US detention facility, are set to walk free, though exact details surrounding their release remain cloaked in secrecy.
Sarah Shaw and her youngest son, Isaac, who live in Washington State, were detained on the Canadian border threeweeks ago over a visa discrepancy.
The pair were taken by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to the Dilley Immigration Processing Centre in Dilley, Texas.
Shaw’s friend, Victoria Besancon, revealed to the Herald the pair will be released soon.
“Sarah will be released this week. She has been given paperwork by ICE, which has decided to release her.
“They are so happy and so thankful. There are families who’ve been in there 70 days so this has really been such a team effort of media coverage, pressure from representatives and advocates,” Besancon said.
She said the details of the date and time of the release are being kept private in order to protect Shaw and her son, who are already “completely traumatised”.
On July 24, Shaw drove her two eldest children, Grace, 11, and Seth, 9, to the airport in Vancouver for a direct flight to New Zealand to visit their grandparents.
Isaac didn’t go on the trip because he wasn’t old enough to fly unaccompanied.
After leaving Vancouver, when Shaw and Isaac tried to cross the border to return home, they were “forcibly detained”.
The Washington Federation of State Employees (WFSE) said Shaw and her son were being held at the Dilley Immigration Processing Centre in Dilley, Texas.
Shaw’s lawyer, Minda Thorward, told local media she had a temporary immigration document which allowed her to travel and re-enter the US, but there was an “administrative error” with it.
When speaking to the media before the news of the release, Besancon said family and friends were desperately pleading for good news.
A GoFundMe page set up for New Zealand woman Sarah Shaw and her 6-year-old son Isaac has raised more than US$50,000. Photo / GoFundMe
“As a mother, when you just imagine your child sitting essentially in a prison for something she shouldn’t be imprisoned for and you think about your 6-year-old grandchild just sitting there locked up,” Besancon said.
“They don’t even have their normal clothes. They’re not allowed to wear their own underwear. They’re in these uniforms. They’re the only people in the entire facility that speak English.
“Not only are they detained, but they’re kind of in a very strange sort of social isolation. She’s absolutely terrified.”
Family and friends had pleaded for the release of a Kiwi mother of three and her 6-year-old son after they were detained by US immigration. Photo / Supplied
Besancon has been able to speak with Shaw in a controlled capacity because Shaw signed a privacy release between herself, Besancon and her lawyer.
Besancon told RNZthat the conditions in the centre, where Shaw and her son are being held together, are “very similar to a prison”.
