Sarah Shaw ICE detention: New Zealand mother and son freed after three weeks, but how did they end up there?

A New Zealand woman and her young son, who were detained for more than three weeks in a Texas immigration facility, are now safely back at their home in Washington state.

The woman, Sarah Shaw, and her six-year-old son Issac 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.

Shaw, who works as a youth counsellor at a juvenile detention facility in Everett, Washington, had been preparing to start graduate school on July 25 when she and Isaac were taken into custody.

How did she get caught?

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, where they would visit their grandparents, according to NZhearld.

Isaac did not go on the trip because he was not old enough to fly alone.

When Shaw and Isaac attempted to cross back into the United States, they were detained by border officials. A GoFundMe page for her says ICE acted on incorrect information about their visas.

Shaw asked officers to allow her to apply for humanitarian parole, a process meant to prevent family separation and address exceptional cases.

Instead, she was told her request had already been made and denied. According to her legal team, that claim was false; no parole request had ever been filed.

As per a NZHerald report, Shaw’s lawyer, Minda Thorward, informed local media that the mother possessed a temporary immigration document allowing her to travel and re-enter the US. However, there was an “administrative error” related to it.

After the ICE detention, and instead of being processed in Washington state, ICE transferred her and Isaac to the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, one of only two family detention facilities in the country.

Shaw also reported that ICE officers threatened to confiscate her phone if she continued to contact her lawyer, a threat that was carried out. Meanwhile, her young son was also kept in detention despite holding a valid visa.