A New Zealand woman and her six-year-old kid were caught when crossing the Canada-US border, and her friend and supporter claims that she is being treated unfairly like a criminal at a US immigration center.
Sarah Shaw, 33, a New Zealander who has resided in Washington state for just over three years, dropped off her two oldest children at Vancouver airport on July 24 so they could catch a direct flight back to New Zealand for a holiday with their grandparents.
The experience of being arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) when she attempted to re-enter the United States with her youngest child was horrifying, according to Victoria Besancon, Shaw’s friend who is collecting money for her legal battle.
Sarah stated she believed she was being abducted. According to The Guardian, they sort of stealthily removed her and her son and instantly loaded them into an unmarked white vehicle without really explaining anything to her at first.
Besancon claims that when ICE confiscated Shaw’s phone, the mother and boy were brought to the Dilley immigration processing center in South Texas, which is several states away from Shaw’s residence. Similarly, foreigners caught up in the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement have been transferred to facilities far from their legal representation, support networks, and families.
According to Besancon, it has been dreadful, and aside from the employees, only Shaw and her kid know English. They are also kept in their one bedroom from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. and are not allowed to wear their own clothes.
A mother and her 6-year-old son are forcibly detained by ICE and kept in cruel and isolated conditions.
Agents took away her phone and prevented her from seeing the lawyer, advising her to be cautious about who she spoke to.
She used a combination visa to lawfully work as a state employee in Washington: anpic.twitter.com/zAtzToJ5x8
LongTime FirstTime August 11, 2025 (@LongTimeHistory)
Shaw currently holds an I-360 visa, which grants immigration status to survivors of domestic abuse, and a combination card visa, which she obtained through her work at a maximum security juvenile facility.
Until she recently received a letter confirming her visa renewal, Shaw was not aware that the I-360 component of her visa was still pending clearance. According to Besancon, she didn’t realize that just half of the combo card had been fully accepted until she attempted to cross the border again because there was only one actual card.
One more instance of #ICEoverkill. #SarahShaw and her 6-year-old kid have been detained for three weeks and are still there due to a small administrative error. She poses no threat, so it is shameful and pointless.Co2RxIOdPL: https://t.co/In
August 13, 2025 Janet M. Webster (@janetmwebster73)
According to Besancon, border officials did not have to detain Shaw and might have requested humanitarian release. Besancon asserted that because all three of Shaw’s children had their I-360 visas, her youngest child was being detained unlawfully.
Yestramski claims that because ICE methods and the broader immigration policies that promote them are incompatible with American values and human rights, the union strongly opposes them.
The New Zealand Foreign Affairs Ministry said it is in contact with Shaw, but it is unable to comment further on the matter due to privacy concerns.
