BURST
Friends and family are raising funds to support a New Zealand mother living in Washington State who was detained with her six-year-old son by U.S. immigration officials after returning from a trip to Vancouver.
Sarah Shaw, 33, and her son, Isaac, ended up detained over a clerical error, even though her work visa was current and her travel immigration paperwork was still in process. They ha ve been stuck in an immigration processing centre in South Texas for nearly three weeks, sharing a room with five other families and facing strict confinement.
“We were shocked because we were sure we had done all the paperwork properly,” said Victoria Besancon, Shaw’s friend, who is helping raise funds for her legal costs.
A GoFundMe set up for Shaw has raised more than $51,000 to help cover her legal and living expenses while the single mother remains detained at Dilley Immigration Processing Center.
Besancon described the conditions in the facility, based on emails from Shaw.
“It’s comparable to jail,” she said.
Shaw and her son share a bedroom with five other families and are locked in from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. They cannot wear their own clothes, have very limited contact with the outside world, and “don’t even have underwear.”
Shaw and Isaac are the only English speakers in the facility besides the staff.
“Sarah has really been struggling with her anxiety. She’s been trying to stay positive for her son, but it’s been incredibly difficult for them,” Besancon added.
Shaw had lived in Washington for just over three years when she crossed into Canada last month to drop her older children off at Vancouver International Airport. On July 24, the children boarded a flight to New Zealand to spend time with their grandparents. Shaw and her youngest child never made it home.
When Shaw attempted to drive back into the U.S., Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers detained her and Isaac. They were transported thousands of kilometres away to the South Texas detention facility.
Shaw’s attorney said the detentions stem from a paperwork error compounded by increasingly strict U.S. immigration policies.
“This is a direct result of Trump’s immigration policies,” said Minda Thorward, a Seattle-based immigration lawyer. “ICE has been ramping up enforcement in such a way that innocent people who simply don’t have the right documents or have made a mistake are being swept up in this dragnet. It’s causing a lot of unnecessary harm.”
Thorward explained that Shaw is applying for lawful permanent residency and holds a “combo card,” a temporary immigration document that provides work authorization and allows international travel. She also has an I-360 visa, which can grant immigration status to domestic violence survivors.
Shaw had recently received confirmation that her work visa was renewed, but she didn’t realize that the I-360 part of her application was still pending.
“It was a simple mistake,” Thorward said. “The detainment was unnecessary.”
For Isaac, Thorward said his detention is “entirely unlawful,” as the six-year-old holds a valid, unexpired travel visa.
“If Sarah’s wishes were honoured, her son would not have been detained with her. The only facility that can detain women and children together is in South Texas, and ICE refused to allow it,” the attorney said.
Because only lawyers licensed in Texas can access the facility, Shaw has already spent her savings trying to hire both a Washington attorney and a Texas-based lawyer, Besancon said.
“Sarah’s other savings have been used to pay her rent and bills while she remains confined, unable to work,” she added.
Shaw works for the Washington State Department of Children, Youth and Families, where she provides counselling and runs programs for youth at a maximum-security juvenile facility in Snoqualmie.
“She’s the sole provider in her family, working 50 hours a week,” said Besancon.