A New Zealand woman and her six-year-old son who live in Washington state have been detained by US immigration. Photo / GoFundMe
Family and friends are pleading for the release of a Kiwi mother of three and her 6-year-old son after they were detained by US immigration.
Sarah Shaw and her youngest son, Isaac, who live in Washington State, were detained on the Canadian border three weeks ago.
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 wasn’t old enough to fly unaccompanied, so he did not go on the trip.
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.
A GoFundMe was set up by Shaw’s friend, Victoria Besancon, to get Shaw and her son back home to Washington.
Besancon told the Herald they became friends in 2021 after meeting on a mother’s Facebook page when Shaw moved to Everett, Washington.
Besancon said she has spoken to the children and their grandparents in New Zealand after learning of the detention.
“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.”
Originally, Besancon was supposed to be taking the children to Canada, but then their travel paperwork came through, and Shaw believed they were good to go.
“She felt confident being the one to take them,” Besancon said.
“Her daughter was really nervous about the flight anyway, so she wanted her mom to go with her to drop her off. We figured that it would be safe to do so, and we were unfortunately wrong.”
Besancon said she found out about the detention two days later, after she didn’t hear from Shaw later that night and couldn’t get hold of her the next day.
“I started getting this horrible feeling and I reached out to her boyfriend and I reached out to her lawyer,” Besancon said.
“That was when we found out there had been some issues at the border, but it wasn’t really until we reached out to our Washington State representatives that we even found out where Sarah was.”
The children in New Zealand haven’t heard from their mother since the day she was detained.
Besancon said in America, ICE has two levels of accountability.
“When they do detain somebody, they’re supposed to put them in an ICE locator system. They did not do that for Sarah for almost three weeks,” Besancon said.
“They’re also supposed to file paperwork in court establishing a court date for her and they did not do that for almost three weeks as well.
“It was about two-and-a-half weeks of basically legal-sanctioned kidnapping, which is a really big deal here in America.”
The family are currently waiting to hear some good news tomorrow regarding whether the decision has been made to release Isaac.
“He would be released to me. And then we’re waiting to hear, hopefully by the 14th what they’re planning to do with Sarah,” Besancon said.
Besancon has been able to speak with Shaw in a controlled capacity because Shaw signed a privacy release between herself, Besancon and her lawyer.
“She’s absolutely devastated.
“She’s had to pay for an attorney in Washington and an attorney in Texas. She hasn’t been able to work. She’s had to pay all her bills and her rent. She’s completely drained her savings, and she’s the only financial support she has within her family.
“She literally lost everything,” Besancon said.
Besancon said in America, this was a very common situation for many families.
“It’s Sarah’s intent that when she does get out, she wants to use that freedom to advocate for other women and children she’s met who are going through this exact same situation.”
WFSE said Shaw worked as a juvenile rehabilitation employee at the Echo Glen Children’s Centre in Snoqualmie, run by the Washington State Department of Children, Youth and Families.
A Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson (MFAT) said consular officials were aware of reports of a New Zealander and her young son in detention in the United States.
They are seeking further information.
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