Source: Radio New Zealand
The mother of a detained New Zealander is calling for the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT), Winston Peters to help her daughter.
Everlee Wihongi was entering her third week in US detention after being detained in an ICE processing centre in California. The Wihongi family, who had lived in the US for three decades, were returning to the United States following a family holiday in Aotearoa.
Betty Wihongi said they didn’t even consider they may have an issue at the border as most of the family were naturalised American citizens and Everlee Wihongi holds a Green Card.
Betty Wihongi said she was separated from Everlee Wihongi at the airport and waited for seven hours before receiving a call from her distraught daughter. Everlee explained there was an issue with a historic charge and she was being sent to an ICE processing centre.
Everlee Wihongi has been detained in the US for three weeks. Supplied
Everlee had a historic conviction for possession of marijuana that had been dealt with more than 10 years ago.
Inside an ICE facility
Betty Wihongi told RNZ’s Mata she was terrified for her 37-year-old daughter, who was sharing a room with 46 others.
They were confined to the room for 22 hours a day, one side of the room was bunks and the other side was tables. She said they ate and slept in the same room.
Everlee Wihongi believed she was the only person there with a Green Card.
Betty Wihongi said there had been a lack of support from MFAT, and she wanted Winston Peters to intervene.
“Step up and do more,” she said.
“One, do something about Everlee, there has to be something the New Zealand government can do, and two train your people… because the help we are getting is not the best”.
Everlee Wihongi, pictured with whānau. Supplied
NZ government responds
When contacted by Mata, the office of Peters, said “this is a consular matter, and the ministry is dealing with it. The minister is being kept updated on those efforts.”
When asked if Peters would respond directly to Betty Wihongi’s appeal, the office said “the message had been relayed” but said it must go through consular channels.
A spokesperson said “the minister is being kept informed and trusts the professionalism and effort that our Embassy/consular staff are providing”.
But Betty Wihongi said there was little support. No one had visited Everlee Wihongi in detention, they had not received any support in finding a lawyer and when her daughter finally got through on the phone, she claimed the staffer asked her “what do you want me to do about this?”.
The spokesperson for Peter’s office said there were aspects of the case that could not be shared for privacy reasons.
Winston Peters. (File photo) RNZ / Mark Papalii
Betty Wihongi and her daughter, want to know what the aspects of the case are and believed they had been open about any past transgressions.
The Ministry for Foreign Affairs responded to Mata, in a statement, it said:
“While the New Zealand government is unable to influence the immigration decisions of other governments, MFAT continues to provide consular assistance to the family of a New Zealander detained in Los Angeles.
“The type of support available in these situations includes ensuring that New Zealanders have access to legal representation, advising family, and engaging with detention facilities where that is needed. For further information on how consular cases are supported please visit Safe Travel: You have been arrested or jailed.
“For privacy reasons, we are unable to comment on the details of any individual case.”
The move to the US
Three decades ago when Everlee Wiohngi was six-years-old, the Wihongi family moved to Wisconsin, her father who works in rail was recruited by US-based Wisconsin Central Transportation Corporation after NZ Rail Limited was sold for $328 million in 1993.
They had traveled back to Aotearoa numerous times and had a strong connection here and to the Cook Islands where Betty Wihongi had ties.
She said they were continuing to pay Everlee Wihongi’s rent and bills but had no idea what the future held.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
