(file image) Protesters part in the Savali Ole Filemu peaceful march in Central Auckland urging politcal parties to protect overstayers. Photo: Teanau Tuiono
Pacific advocates in Aotearoa say a proposed law change for out-of-hours immigration visits - like dawn raids - doesn't go far enough.
The contentious enforcement practice involves immigration officers searching homes for people they have reasonable grounds to believe are liable for deportation between 6pm and 8am.
It has been criticised for targeting Pacific people, particularly in the wake of the dawn raids of the 1970s and 80s.
In 2021, the then-government apologised for the Dawn Raids era. However, two years later, the plight of a Tongan man whose home was dawn raided while his children slept hit headlines.
At the time, his lawyer Sione Foliaki described how police and immigration officers showed up at the family's South Auckland home at 5am.
"The loud banging was heard first by the children. Of course they didn't know it was police. They were terrified ... and crying and very, very upset and scared," he told RNZ Pacific.
"And the parents heard it from upstairs - it was that loud - and they looked out the window from upstairs and saw that it was police. So they ran downstairs to try and calm the children.
The case prompted Immigration New Zealand to cease out-of-hours immigration searches, and an official review was ordered .
Now, a bill has been brought before parliament seeking to incorporate the review's findings into law.
If successful, it would result in extra checks being required before a raid is carried out, and sign-off from a district court judge.
However, it does not go as far as banning dawn raids, something Pasifika advocates and leaders have long called for.
No dawn raids have been carried out in the country for the past two years.
Former National MP Anae Arthur Anae has said the practice was unnecessary.
"They've now proved they can do it within the normal hours. They don't need to go and do what they were doing before."
Anae has been a long-term advocate for visa-free travel between Pacific Island nations and Aotearoa.
Of the 60 countries that have visa-free access, none are Pacific nations. Meanwhile, Australians, UK nationals, and European visitors all qualified for visa-free access.
Anae said the double-standard against Pacific was part of the problem.
"If you make it very difficult for people to come, when they come they're going to stay as long as they can because there's not guarantee they can come back tomorrow when they go back on time.
"I think Immigration [NZ which] created all of this in my opinion should look at themselves and ask themselves these questions: 'Can we find a way of eliminating the need for people to overstay."
'Trying to find a better way of life'
Tongan community leader Pakilau Manase Lua agreed with Mr Anae and said New Zealand must face up to the bias in its system.
He pointed to trends in immigration enforcement that showed Pacific people, and people of colour are overrepresented.
"Why is it justified to target people who are here trying to find a better way of life," Pakilau said.
"They're here in the country. In fact, they're actually paying taxes, and some of them are paying PAYE, Even though they're unlawful, they pay taxes by the fact …they're working."
An overstayer who cannot be named for privacy reasons sharing his story at a public meeting in Ōtara on 6 May 2023 that was sparked by a recent dawn raid of Pasifika overstayer in Auckland. Photo: RNZ Pacific / Lydia Lewis
Undocumented migrants also contributed via GST when they bought things like groceries and petrol, he said.
Green Party Pacific Peoples spokesperson Teanau Tuiono said an amnesty for overstayers was the right thing to do, particularly in light of the 2021 Dawn Raids apology.
He supported outlawing out-of-hours immigration enforcement visits.
"If they [Immigration New Zealand] have found a way to better engage with our communities, then why is this going to be on the statute books? Why is this going to be part of the rules? It should be removed because we know of the trauma that it does create," Tuiono said.
Immigration New Zealand said in a statement that any out-of-hours compliance activity was rare and a last resort. Prior to the 2023 review, the enforcement tactic made up three percent of compliance visits.
"While we retain the option of an out of hours visit it has so far not been judged necessary in an individual case," department spokesperson Steve Watson said.
"We have also focused on visiting employers and since the…review we have put into practice an immigration infringement regime which allows us to sanction non-compliant employers."
Watson also said the department would implement any changes that resulted from the proposed law changes.
These were part of the government's wide-ranging Immigration (Fiscal Sustainability and System Integrity) Amendment Bill. The bill was at select committee stage.
RNZ Pacific also sought comment from Immigration Minister Erica Stanford, but she did not respond before publication.
