Everlee Wihongi's family hope for quick release after conviction vacated, worried ICE 'playing games'

The sister-in-law of a woman detained by ICE in the US has described the quashing of her 2016 conviction as a huge relief.

Everlee Wihongi's lawyer has told RNZ that she could be released from US custody in a matter of days or weeks, after a judge vacated her conviction for marijuana possession.

Lawyer Marc Christopher said the next step is to get the court's decision to immigration officials and homeland security.

Wihongi has been held by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) since attempting to re-enter the country on a permanent residents' Green Card in April.

She is a New Zealand citizen, but has lived in the US for decades.

Wihongi is currently being held in the Eloy Detention Facility in Arizona.

Her sister-in-law, Courtney Wihongi, told RNZ the court's decision was huge.

"This was three iterations of three different court dates, so to finally, you know, have an answer and have the ruling be in our favour of the charge being vacated, it's huge."

"ICE has no reason to have Everlee detained as of right now," she said.

Wihongi was hopeful her sister-in-law would be released as fast as possible, though worried ICE had been "playing games" with her case.

"We did our best as her family to try and keep her hopeful and to keep her spirits up, but from court date to court date, just not getting an answer, it was extremely hard for her, extremely frustrating," Wihongi said.

"The hope that she did have it was, you know, it was fading, little by little just with each court date."

Wihongi said any support the NZ Government could provide would be crucial.

"Any pressure that we can get from different governing bodies to put pressure on ICE to actually do their jobs correctly is vital at this point, because we've completely removed any grounds of why they are holding her," she said.

"But she's just getting lost in documentation, she's getting lost in the shuffle around of paperwork not being completed."

Christopher said Everlee's release could be imminent.

"Once we get the decision over to the immigration courts and over to the Department of Homeland Security, she should be released hopefully within a matter of days or just a couple of weeks," he said.

Christopher said the conviction was thrown out on what is known as ineffective assistance of counsel.

Wihongi's lawyer at the time of her conviction has since been disbarred.

Christopher said consular assistance could help expedite her release.

"Any time you can reach in to the higher ups within the government and make them aware of a situation, sometimes that can play a role in expediting what should be a pretty easy decision to release her."

Wihongi's situation was one faced by thousands, Christopher said.

"That is a very arbitrary and strict reading of the immigration laws resulting in deportations of tens if not hundreds of thousands of people."

Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade responds

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) said the New Zealand government was unable to influence the immigration decisions of other governments, but that MFAT continued to provide consular assistance to Wihongi and her family.

"For privacy reasons, we are unable to comment on the details of any individual case," they said.

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