A review has been announced into "out of hours compliance visits" by Immigration New Zealand after a Pasifika overstayer was detained following a dawn raid in South Auckland last week.
The review will be carried out by Mike Heron KC, on behalf of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), and will look into existing policies and processes for such visits by immigration officers.
It comes after concerns around the man's detainment were raised by the Pacific community.
The man's lawyer Soane Foliaki told RNZ police showed up at 5am, scaring his children and taking him into custody — and though Immigration NZ has disputed the timing, it has admitted the early morning raid was not a one-off.
Deputy Prime Minister Carmel Sepuloni said allegations of its continuation were "hugely disappointing and uncomfortable".
"It's retraumatising a community that was traumatised during a period of time that was a very dark period for the Pacific community, so we don't want to see it," she said.
In 2021, the Government gave a formal apology to the Pasifika community for the dawn raids of the 1970s, where a series of rigorous immigration policies resulted in targeted raids on the homes of Pacific families. The raids often came very early in the morning or late at night and were severe, with harsh verbal and physical treatment.
Tigilau Ness says he is deeply distressed following reports of a case of a Pasifika overstayer who was detained in South Auckland last week. (Source: 1News)
In a statement this afternoon, MBIE chief executive Carolyn Tremain said the compliance officers' "out of hours visits" will be paused "until the review is completed".
The review is expected to be completed by the end of June.
"The right and proper thing to do is to stop out of hours visits while the review is carried out," Tremain said.
Changes were made to out of hours practices this week, with standard operating hours moving from 7am to 9pm to 8am to 6pm. All out of hours visits had to be authorised by the head of Immigration NZ.
"Pacific leaders have voiced their deep concerns and unhappiness at recent events and it's clear that lessons still need to be learned following the Dawn Raids of the 1970s and the formal apology made by the Government in August 2021.
"Ministers have expressed their expectations and we will explore ways to achieve these expectations while maintaining public safety.
"In all our endeavours we try to engage respectfully with the occupants of premises and at all times our compliance officers are expected to act with professionalism and integrity.
"But we have been listening to the Pacific community about the impact of these visits on them and their families."
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