However, on their return to the States, they were separated at the airport during border processing.
“Four of us are citizens, but my daughter, she loves her New Zealand passport, decided that she would just be on a green card here,” Betty said.
“I was really scared. A border patrol officer said to us, ‘We’ll meet you downstairs at the carousel, we just have to chat with her for a bit’.
“But we never saw her again after that.”
Later that evening she called in tears to say she was being taken to an ICE detention centre about two hours away.
Betty said her daughter had been held at the airport for about 17 hours before being transferred.
“She was a mess, just crying and not understanding what’s going on,” she said.
“Now, she’s in a room with 46 other people for most of the day and only allowed outside for about an hour at a time. They can’t tell me that’s not jail.”
Everlee’s brother Avaiiki Wihongi told local news outlet KSL that ICE agents held her in a room for more than seven hours and pressured her into signing paperwork without allowing her to read it in full.
“She tried to read it again, he ripped it out of her hands and said, ‘Are you going to be difficult?’” Avaiiki said.
The family believes the detention may be linked to an old criminal charge from more than a decade ago that was resolved at the time and should have been cleared from her record.
However, Betty said the family still has not been told why Everlee is being held, despite her repeated attempts to get answers from ICE agents.
“She has an active green card while other people are there because they’re on visas and some don’t have documentation at all.
“Everlee has done nothing wrong. She’s a kind-hearted person, the sort of person who helps anyone who needs it.”
Betty said the situation has left the family deeply distressed.
“There’s been a lot of anxiety, we’re scared for our daughter.
“It’s just made us question why we’re even here and if this is a country that we want to live in that can treat their people like that.
“My other daughter who is also here on a green card is scared because she’s just had a baby.”
Everlee’s siblings have started a GoFundMe page to support with legal costs, including representation at a hearing scheduled for April 28.
Betty said Everlee, who is a qualified welder, had slowly begun adapting to life inside the centre.
“She’s doing better now. She’s even made a few friends in there,” she said.
The family sends money so she can buy basic supplies and stay in touch with them by phone.
Her New Zealand-based family are also advocating on her behalf.
Aunt Jen Hewett-Sauauga told the Herald they’d been left feeling “pretty helpless”.
“One minute we’re saying our goodbyes after enjoying having them after years apart, next minute, we hear this news of Everlee’s detainment.
“We can only wish for the best outcome.”
Betty said she hoped that sharing Everlee’s story would help warn other New Zealanders travelling to the United States.
“People think if you’ve done everything right, you’ll be fine,” she said.
“But this has shown us that sometimes that’s not the case.”
“All we want is to know why she’s there and to get her home.”
