Kiwi Mom Wins Freedom After 12-Year-Old Charge Vacated

After sleeping on concrete floors and being shuttled across America in shackles, Everlee Wihongi is finally going home.

The 37-year-old New Zealander, who legally lived in the United States for over 30 years, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in April when returning from a family vacation. The reason? A marijuana possession charge from 2014 that her lawyer promised would never cause immigration problems.

That lawyer was wrong. But this week, a court vacated the charge entirely.

Wihongi was stopped at the border despite having a valid Green Card and a life built in Wisconsin, where she'd spent the past eight years training to become a welder. ICE detained her on April 10, beginning an ordeal that would take her from California to Texas to Arizona.

Her mother Betty described conditions that sound unimaginable. Everlee's hands and feet were shackled during a 1,400-mile transfer from California to Texas. She watched elderly people and children receive the same treatment, packed into overcrowded vehicles.

When she arrived in Texas, guards told 30 detainees there were no beds. They slept on concrete in rooms Everlee described as cages, sweltering in the heat.

Her Wisconsin lawyer Marc Christopher fought to overturn the original conviction, arguing Wihongi received terrible legal advice. The lawyer who handled her 2014 case told her the plea would cause zero immigration issues. That advice changed everything.

The Bright Side

The community rallied hard. Over 35,000 dollars poured into a fundraiser to cover legal costs and bring Everlee home to her family.

Christopher told reporters he expects her release within days, possibly weeks at most. While the US government technically has the right to appeal, ICE no longer has grounds to keep her detained.

After two months of concrete floors and shackles, Everlee Wihongi gets to go home to the country where she built her life for three decades.