“He actually went out of customs and then another customs lady – a worker – she came out and saw [him] and said: ‘Oh, General Fiyah! Can we take a picture’?
“That’s what gave it away that he was there for a performance.”
A 12-year-old General Fiyah performs at the One Love Festival in Tauranga. Photo / Pato Entertainment
The event General Fiyah was due to perform at is a two-day celebration of all things Polynesia, including music. Kiwi singers and husband and wife Swiss & Tree also featured on the line-up.
Security and travels rules in the US have been tightened over the last few months.
Rob Pome’e is also a musician and is a part of South Auckland reggae group Three Houses Down.
He acknowledged that in the past, it was not uncommon for musicians or lesser known artists to travel on visitor visas and for event promoters to organise things that way.
“But the law then isn’t as strict as it is now.”
Pome’e said comments on social media about his son being deported and the racial connotations behind some of those comments had been hurtful.
He said Lotima Pome’e was not detained by police and waited at the airport for three hours before catching the next flight out, which was paid for by family.
A rising star
A young General Fiyah (front) pictured with South Auckland reggae band Three Houses Down.
“He was told that he either paid for his flight to come back home or they would definitely detain him,” Rob Pome’e said.
Away from music, Lotima Pome’e is studying towards a law degree at the University of Auckland.
He also has a love of acting; having appeared on hit Tongan-New Zealand film Red, White and Brass and performing on the Auckland Theatre Company’s stage show of Peter Pan, as the character Skate, last year.
General Fiyah (bottom left) appeared in the 2023 Tongan-New Zealand hit film Red, White and Brass.
He has also been working on new music alongside Three Houses Down and is set to travel to Hawaii again in November for the One Love Festival in Honolulu.
Rob Pome’e said they would be double-checking his travel visa.
The incident comes just days before Auckland DJ duo the Katayanagi twins also reported being denied entry to the US.
The pair, who performed at this year’s Glastonbury Festival in the UK, posted on social media that they had not been allowed in and had been put on a one-way flight back to New Zealand.
It comes after Kiwi woman Sarah Shaw and her 6-year-old son were detained after she mistakenly tried to leave and re-enter the US without parts of her visa being approved.
Vaimoana Mase is the Pasifika editor for the Herald’s Talanoa section, sharing stories from the Pacific community. She won junior reporter of the year at the then Qantas Media Awards in 2010 and won the best opinion writing award at the 2023 Voyager Media Awards.