九一星空无限

ZB ZB
Opinion
Live now
Start time
Playing for
End time
Listen live
Up next
ZB

NZ mother detained in US immigration facility returns home

Author
RNZ,
Publish Date
Sun, 17 Aug 2025, 8:15am
New Zealand woman Sarah Shaw and her 6-year-old son Isaac are back home in Washington. Photo / GoFundMe
New Zealand woman Sarah Shaw and her 6-year-old son Isaac are back home in Washington. Photo / GoFundMe

NZ mother detained in US immigration facility returns home

Author
RNZ,
Publish Date
Sun, 17 Aug 2025, 8:15am

The New Zealand mother detained in an immigration facility in the state of Texas in the United States is safely back at her home in Washington.

Sarah Shaw and her 6-year-old son Isaac were detained at the Canadian border more than three weeks ago because she mistakenly tried to leave and re-enter the United States without both parts of her visa approved.

She was returning from putting her two other children on a flight to New Zealand from Vancouver.

A GoFundMe page set up by family friend Victoria Besancon says 鈥淭hanks to all of your support and advocating Sarah and her son have been released!

鈥淲hile her lawyer鈥檚 words were 鈥榯he war is not over鈥 and there are still legal battles to be had, this portion has been won!

鈥淭hank you to everyone who supported, donated and reached out. We will continue to update the story as it unfolds. But they are home safe and sound.

鈥淧lease be praying for the next legal steps, and for a peaceful reintroduction to daily life for the Shaw family!鈥

A friend who told RNZ of her release said Shaw will give details of her experience in ICE.

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鈥檛 go on the trip because he wasn鈥檛 old enough to fly unaccompanied.

After leaving Vancouver, when Shaw and Isaac tried to cross the border to return home, they were 鈥渇orcibly detained鈥.

The Washington Federation of State Employees (WFSE) said Shaw and her son were held at the Dilley Immigration Processing Centre in Dilley, Texas.

Shaw鈥檚 lawyer, Minda Thorward, told local media the mother had a temporary immigration document that allowed her to travel and re-enter the US, but there was an 鈥渁dministrative error鈥 with it.

When speaking to the media before Shaw鈥檚 release, Besancon said family and friends were desperately pleading for good news.

鈥淎s a mother, when you just imagine your child sitting essentially in a prison for something she shouldn鈥檛 be imprisoned for and you think about your 6-year-old grandchild just sitting there locked up.

鈥淭hey don鈥檛 even have their normal clothes. They鈥檙e not allowed to wear their own underwear. They鈥檙e in these uniforms. They鈥檙e the only people in the entire facility that speak English.

鈥淣ot only are they detained, but they鈥檙e kind of in a very strange sort of social isolation. She鈥檚 absolutely terrified.鈥

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 RNZ that the conditions in the centre where Shaw and her son were being held were 鈥渧ery similar to a prison鈥.

More than US$56,000 ($94,500) has been raised in a GoFundMe set up for the family.

- Additional reporting by NZ Herald

Take your Radio, Podcasts and Music with you