However, on their return to the States, they were separated at the airport during border processing.<\/p>\n
\u201cFour of us are citizens, but my daughter, she loves her New Zealand passport, decided that she would just be on a green card here,\u201d Betty said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was really scared. A border patrol officer said to us, \u2018We\u2019ll meet you downstairs at the carousel, we just have to chat with her for a bit\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we never saw her again after that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Later that evening she called in tears to say she was being taken to an ICE detention centre about two hours away.<\/p>\n
Betty said her daughter had been held at the airport for about 17 hours before being transferred.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was a mess, just crying and not understanding what\u2019s going on,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow, she\u2019s in a room with 46 other people for most of the day and only allowed outside for about an hour at a time. They can\u2019t tell me that\u2019s not jail.\u201d<\/p>\n
Everlee\u2019s brother Avaiiki Wihongi told local news outlet KSL that ICE agents held her in a room for more than seven hours and pressured her into signing paperwork without allowing her to read it in full.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe tried to read it again, he ripped it out of her hands and said, \u2018Are you going to be difficult?\u2019\u201d Avaiiki said.<\/p>\n
The family believes the detention may be linked to an old criminal charge from more than a decade ago that was resolved at the time and should have been cleared from her record.<\/p>\n
However, Betty said the family still has not been told why Everlee is being held, despite her repeated attempts to get answers from ICE agents.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe has an active green card while other people are there because they\u2019re on visas and some don\u2019t have documentation at all.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverlee has done nothing wrong. She\u2019s a kind-hearted person, the sort of person who helps anyone who needs it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Betty said the situation has left the family deeply distressed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s been a lot of anxiety, we\u2019re scared for our daughter.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just made us question why we\u2019re even here and if this is a country that we want to live in that can treat their people like that.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy other daughter who is also here on a green card is scared because she\u2019s just had a baby.\u201d<\/p>\n