Support Sarah and Isaac's Fight for Freedom

Sarah and her six-year-old son have been taken by ICE. Help us get them home to Everett, Wa.

Sarah and her 6 year old son Isaac were detained illegally by Immigration and Customs Enforcement on July 24, inmate number 231560551, and are now forcibly detained at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in south Texas. They are in the United States legally, and have valid paperwork. Sarah works for the state of Washignton counseling youth in a Juvenal detention facility, and is set to begin grad school on the 25th. They are confined in horrible, isolated conditions with extremely limited access to communicate with legal counsel and bordering abuse. Legal representation, Minda A. Thorward, has reached out to ICE worker Bryan Contreras who has refused to release either of them, despite their legal status going as far as to threaten Sarah with "you better be careful who you speak to" when she inquired as to the legalities of her detainment and his refusal to communicate with her legal representation. We need to get both Isaac and Sarah home safely. We need to ensure her life in Everett isn't financially destroyed by ICE while they continue to confine her illegally.

On July 24th Sarah drove her two eldest children to the airport in Vancouver, B.C. for a direct flight to New Zealand to visit their grandparents. When Sarah and Isaac tried to cross the border to return home they were forcibly detained. Ice had incredibly incorrect information about their visas, and when Sarah requested humanitarian parol not only was she denied that right, agents lied to her stating they already had requested it and she was denied. It was later confirmed the next day that was a lie, no parole was filed or requested and she was detained. Ice also threatened Sarah that night that if she continued attempting to reach out to her legal representation they would confiscate her phone, which they promptly did. ICE then forcibly shipped them to south Texas instead of determining the truth, refusing to allow her to be detained in Seattle where her legal representation could have more effectively assist her. ICE refused to allow her son to be picked up by friends or family despite his legal visa, and illegally forcibly detained him causing Sarah to be sent to one of two family facilities in the United States (Texas).

ICE has refused to communicate with Sarah or give her to opportunity to demonstrate she is here legally, while she and little Isaac endure this horror. Her lawyers have e mailed and tried to send evidence of Sarah's legal status but all communication has been ignored with a direct refusal from CIE officer Byran Contreras to release Isaac to Sarah's legal representation which would allow Sarah to be held in a Washington state facility where her representation can better assist her.

We have been in touch with the office of U.S. Rep. Rick Larson. They have confirmed Sarah and Isaac's confinement despite them refusing to add her to their locator system and are grateful for the representative's assistance.

Because only lawyers practicing in Texas are allowed to access the facility to speak with prisoners, which is convenient for ICE, Sarah has already had to burn through her savings attempting to both locate and pay for a Washignton and a Texas state attorney. Sarah's other savings have been used to pay her rent, and bills while she remains confined unable to work. It is clear this will take more time and legal muscle to overcome the bureaucracy and powers of the federal government.

Your donations will help pay for this single mothers bills in Everett, and support the legal effort to break through the bureaucracy and questionable motives keeping them imprisoned, as well as hold ICE accountable for their choices to act against their regulations. Sarah's limited ability to communicate have left her with only 2 consistent contacts while she is being detained and she is relying on us to get her story out. She is not the only person this is happening to and this needs to stop! ICE needs to be held accountable and Sarah's rights along with her children's well being needs to be protected. What little commissary she has been given has been used to purchase basic necessities for her son, tooth brushes, tooth paste, shampoo and some coloring pencils and an ice cream. The cost of these items is ridiculous and Sarah is heartbroken at the conditions and treatment of families in this facility. Many of the detainees are underrepresented, often do not speak English and do not have the level of support Sarah has been given. It is Sarah's hope when she is released to do more work to assist the other families facing this abuse and government kidnapping. While she spends her days already counseling some of the most at risk youth in our society, her eyes have been opened to the horrors that many are secretly facing.

To this day Sarah has been given no charge paperwork, nothing has been filed against her or her son in court, and she has not been added to ICE's detainee locator system. This is a case of legally sanctioned kidnapping and of the two levels of accountability that ICE has been given to adhere to neither have been complied with.

This fundraiser has been organized by close family friend Victoria Besancon and all funds will go directly to Sarah Shaw’s personal bank account as she is the beneficiary.