Washington state employee and 6-year-old son detained by ICE

[SalishSea 18,522]

On 8/15/2025 at 7:02 AM, Dashinka said:

Except when one leaves the US with a pending AOS and no approved AP.  Sounds like it may be very inconvenient for her now.

Well, yes.  I was responding to your comment about it being related to cheaper tickets.  That wouldn't have been the case in this particular situation.  

 

She obviously thought she did have a combo card, and dropping her kids at YVR to fly to Auckland would have meant they didn't have to change planes in SFO/LAX.  Not cheaper, just direct.

[SalishSea 18,522]

On 8/15/2025 at 10:06 AM, Dashinka said:

Is she paying for detention?  How is her savings being depleted? 

Obviously she is unable to work while in detention.

[Boiler 47,885]

Released but on what basis? https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/15/us/new-zealand-mother-detained-us-hnk-dst
 

If we believe this came on a B married very quickly divorced very quickly and filed VAWA.

 

Not sure I believe she ever had AP. Combo cards not common then.

 

 

[Dashinka 26,107]

7 hours ago, Boiler said:

Released but on what basis? https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/15/us/new-zealand-mother-detained-us-hnk-dst
 

If we believe this came on a B married very quickly divorced very quickly and filed VAWA.

 

Not sure I believe she ever had AP. Combo cards not common then.

 

 

Yes, combo cards were stopped in April 2022 right around the time she filed the I360.  I am not completely up to speed on the I360, does that cover the children as well?

 

I do love the story saying she was living legally in the U.S. under a “combo card”.  It was really her I360/I485 receipt that allowed for authorized stay.  Of course the question now is that since she abandoned her I485 via the I360 is her EAD even valid anymore?

Edited August 17 by Dashinka

[Dashinka 26,107]

Another further complication is with the older kids now outside the U.S. they cannot AOS anymore.

[Boiler 47,885]

How would they enter? I assume they entered as Visitors probably VWP, Journos seem confused in this area.

 

Would not surprise me if there is not an overstay in there. 

[Lil bear 4,623]

On 8/14/2025 at 11:24 AM, appleblossom said:

It's a bad article, I read one yesterday that was much more comprehensive. She was on a visa I hadn't heard of before, I think it was from her employment in a youth detention centre, and applying for a GC via VAWA. Can't recall now but I'll see if I can find the article, it was probably the BBC as I tend not to read US new sources. 

I read it on an Australian news site.

 

Sounded like a lawful application for AOS using I360 VAWA.. and a “combo” travel /work permit .. Still pending VAWA and the combo expired. She chose to renew only the work permit and not the AP ( stated had  no planned travel and couldn’t afford the cost).  So that all made sense until she made the drive to Vancouver to take her son to the airport .. flight costs were way less from Vancouver to Akl.. 

 

So yes she was refused entry  for not having entry permit. Legally detained for deportation as this voided her I360 

 

Heavy handed and clumsy and a sign of a system that uses a sledge hammer to smash a tiny harmless ant. 

Edited August 17 by Lil bear

[Crazy Cat 45,245]

3 hours ago, Dashinka said:

Of course the question now is that since she abandoned her I485 via the I360 is her EAD even valid anymore?

Nope.  That was basis for the EAD.   Seems to me she made some really unwise decisions.  

Edited August 17 by Crazy Cat

[Boiler 47,885]

There is so much wrong, including the whole VAWA system is rife with abuse. Write a book on this.

 

Still think it is unlikely she ever had anything other than EAD, and what about the children?

Edited August 17 by Boiler

[Crazy Cat 45,245]

I read that she returned to Washington state.  Under what basis can she return?  How does that work? Will she have to try another VAWA claim?

Edited August 17 by Crazy Cat

[PGA 340]

3 hours ago, Lil bear said:

Heavy handed and clumsy and a sign of a system that uses a sledge hammer to smash a tiny harmless ant. 

Terrible example really, "a tiny harmless ant" like a bulldog ant? or a supercolony of argentine ants? We either have rules and laws that apply to everyone or we don't; the minute we start making exceptions, the "harmless ant" is soon followed by an entire colony of ants, who are then followed by serpents using the precedents set by the ant.    

[Lil bear 4,623]

On 8/17/2025 at 12:18 PM, PGA said:

Terrible example really, "a tiny harmless ant" like a bulldog ant? or a supercolony of argentine ants? We either have rules and laws that apply to everyone or we don't; the minute we start making exceptions, the "harmless ant" is soon followed by an entire colony of ants, who are then followed by serpents using the precedents set by the ant.    

I am  not condoning law breaking. This response  just  seems a very selective application of a law when every second on the road the majority  of drivers flaunt the speed limit and expect to get away with it. Speed kills. 

[Dashinka 26,107]

6 minutes ago, Lil bear said:

I am  not condoning law breaking. This response  just  seems a very selective application of a law when every second on the road the majority  of drivers flaunt the speed limit and expect to get away with it. Speed kills. 

Not a really great analogy, as if a speeding driver is caught, then they face the consequences.  The analogy some wanted here is the police letting the speeding driver go without any consequences.  Certainly the pendulum has swung from our wide open borders, to a more controlled system, and officers are now actually enforcing the laws.  Not really sure that is a bad thing.

[Crazy Cat 45,245]

  If she returned home from detention, what is her status now?

[Dashinka 26,107]

4 minutes ago, Crazy Cat said:

  If she returned home from detention, what is her status now?

I assume she is filing a new I485 ASAP.  What is not clear to me is the status of the children.  Are their cases completely separated, or are they tied to the mother.