Everlee Will Remain Locked Up For Another Month

Hi,

Webworm is busy – I think I'll take a breather next week (if it ever lets up). I wanted to write, as Everlee Wihongi – the New Zealander kidnapped by ICE – has had her first court appearance in front of a judge just now.

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I just spoke to her mother Betty about how it went.

The audio is available for you here:

Betty talking to David Farrier, April 28, 2026.

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The TL;DR:

• Because her family has been scrambling to find a lawyer who is affordable and knows what they're doing, Everlee went in front of a judge with no representation today. The judge sounded "grumpy", and Everlee got sent back to prison. Everlee's next court appearance is June 10. Chances are, she will be imprisoned until at least that date.

Everlee's home until, probably, June 10 (photo credit: Webworm)

• As previously reported on Webworm, when Everlee was pulled aside by ICE at LAX airport nearly three weeks ago, they told her it had something to do with too many green cards. This was bullshit: It's all to do with a prior conviction over marijuana use 10 years ago (which had been dealt with).
• June 10 means Everlee would have spent about nine weeks incarcerated.

I have transcribed key pieces from my conversation with Betty below.

Thank you for following this story, and caring. Sure – it's a niche example of a New Zealander in ICE custody, but it speaks to so many things: ICE's power to detain, the United States' inherent racism, and the strength of an individual caught in an increasingly unhinged, deranged regime that has Pete Hegseth (the "Secretary of War" wtf) proudly letting Kid Rock lecture soldiers about the Strait of Hormuz (I am not joking).

I don't even know. It's a real thing that happened.

Thanks to all those who have a paid Webworm subscription: You literally keep this place ticking, and allow me to cover stories like Everlee Wihongi's kidnapping by ICE.

All paying members get to take part in the comments section, and can always reach me directly at davidfarrier@protonmail.com

Q&A With Betty, Everlee's Mother:

(Taken from audio above)

How are things going? Any, any updates your end?

So Everlee went in front of the judge today, and she said he was just so rude to everybody there. And I said, "You know, some people in positions of power feel like they need to abuse that. That's to be expected. You just need to take it." And she goes, "Yeah, I just keep quiet. And I was polite and I answered the questions he was asking."

And because she didn't have legal counsel today, it's actually going to be June 10th as her next court appearance.

Do you have a lawyer now?

So we did retain a lawyer. He's being pretty amazing. I haven't been impressed with the other ones that we talked to and tried to get help from. But this guy is "on it".

He was doing things for us without even us paying a retainer. He's looked at Everlee's record. She had two offenses for drugs [in 2014]. The first one was she had paraphernalia, which was a misdemeanor.

[Second], she was traveling in a car that was pulled over and there was marijuana in the car. Not necessarily hers, but because she's in the vehicle with it, it's all of theirs, you know?

And then [Everlee's new lawyer] said that in 2010, there was a law passed that every judge and every lawyer has to tell their client, if they're an immigrant, what would happen to their immigration status.

And this lawyer never notified Everlee [in 2014], and it was never announced in court.

And [Everlee's new lawyer] sends me this email and he goes, "This is the attorney that Everlee had" – and we clicked on the link, and it was a link to the "Post Crescent" newspaper. And [Everlee's old lawyer from 2014] had been disbarred! He's in jail for lying to clients and getting them to plead to a higher charge, and for forging a judge's signature!"

And he goes, "The icing on top is that the year that he was charged, was the year that Everlee went to court!"

Everlee's lawyer 10 years ago...

How's Everlee feeling about this?

It's hard. It's hard for her, you know? Like, she calls us and she tries to stay optimistic. Other days she's up and down. Sometimes things wear on her, and that brings her down.

Her last meltdown was: She's worried about her dog, her apartment, her car payments. All these things. We just had to tell her that anything on the outside is what is for us to take care of.

She just has to worry about what's going on inside, and just worry about herself and keeping herself together.

Has there been any outreach from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the New Zealand consulate in Los Angeles, since we last talked?

I just want to be just articulate about this. Everlee tried calling them several times. Since she's been inside, there's a lump that's developed in her back. So she's been asking for medical help, right? They're not giving it. They're not doing anything about that.

So she has been calling the consulate and they have not been returning her calls.

So my [other daughter] gets on there, and she's calling them. Finally, she's talking to somebody and he goes, "Oh, you know, we've been trying to call Everlee but she doesn't answer." And she's like, "How are you doing that? If you can't reach her, then maybe you should go and visit her, because that's part of your job!"

They called us last week to see how we were. I went, "I don't see how this is meant to be helping Everlee."

So there have been no specific offers of legal help, or anything sort of specific, or real?

Nothing. No offers of help.

And a really stupid question, but nothing from Winston Peters or New Zealand's leader Christopher Luxon?

No, nothing from Winston. I don't expect there to be.

Betty laughs as she answers that laugh question. I mean, fuck, what else can you do?

I want to leave you with this comment from Everlee's aunty, who left this comment on my last piece (as I am always harping on: The Webworm community rules).

"Everlee’s aunty Jen here again - chiming in. 🤷🏽‍♀️

The facility looks pretty desolate. I look at all the barriers they’ve put in place to make it as difficult as possible for people to visit their loved ones, from “only citizens can visit”, to those rocks in the car parks. FFS! Not to mention the insidious underlying fear of ending up as a detainee if you show up to see your loved ones. Because they’ve proven that legit people are abducted, too.

I told David a story about Everlee and my husband. Hubby is Samoan and English is his second language. All my nieces and nephews love him because he’s a bit of a larrikin.

We had a family holiday in the islands and Everlee, also a bit of a larrikin, was throwing sea cucumbers at my hubby. He threatened her with “your days are numbers” (because English is his second language) of course we all laughed and it has become Everlee’s favourite line to use.

Ironic, that her days are numbers now.

We just want her out and home with her mum, dad and siblings, and her beloved dog – before that number grows."

David.

Everlee's family has a GoFundMe for legal costs as they try to get her out.