As of October 1, immigrants remaining in the country more than 42 days after their entry permit has expired can be detained and deported without having the right to appeal. Previously, they had 42 days to appeal their removal order. Immigrants removed under the new law are banned from returning to New Zealand for five years, and are also barred from entering many other countries for a similar period. Following large meetings earlier this year of Pacific Island immigrants who opposed the new law, the government offered a partial amnesty for undocumented immigrants who are "well settled."

The law was adopted by parliament under the National Party government a year ago and came into force last month, with the backing of the Labour Party government.

The reality of what the new law means was spelled out October 10, when Filipino immigrant Rosanna Mila, who works as a cleaner; her husband Oscar, a presser; and Mila's mother and nine-year-old daughter were taken by cops and immigration officials from their home in Auckland at 6:05 a.m. and put on a plane to the Philippines. Their deportation was hurriedly reversed during transit in Malaysia where immigration officials confirmed the family's statements that they had lodged an appeal against their removal before October 1, and were therefore in the country legally. The Mila family had lived and worked in New Zealand for three years.

Four days later, Hosea Nau, from Tonga, was jailed for 36 hours and threatened with deportation after being arrested on a minor charge. Nau also had an appeal before the courts and was in the country legally.  
 
'Dawn raids'
The Mila family's deportation was a reminder for many workers of the notorious "dawn raids" carried out in the 1970s that targeted Pacific Island immigrants for harassment and deportation, a practice that was met by widespread protests at the time.

Amidst the controversy following the illegal deportation of the Mila family, the Minister of Immigration, Lianne Dalziel, defended the government's new "crackdown on overstayers." She claimed there would be no more "dawn raids," stating that raids to remove "overstayers" will not start before 7:00 a.m. Prime Minister Helen Clark affirmed the government's decision not to soften the law passed by the previous administration, saying, "People who overstay are trying to come through the back door, not the front door."

"We did nothing wrong, but we were treated like criminals without rights," said Rosanna Mila, commenting on the treatment of her family. "We work, we pay our tax, and we hope for a good life. A good life means happiness and peace, not a knock on your door before you rub the sleep from your eyes."

In the wake of these events, a series of other cases illustrating the ongoing harassment and intimidation of immigrant workers and their families have come to light. The New Zealand Herald reported October 21 that the Thai government is considering joining legal action against the New Zealand Immigration Service. The Thai authorities allege that Thais are regularly detained and deported as suspected illegal immigrants or prostitutes. Of 1,238 people who were refused entry to New Zealand last year, 900 were from Thailand. According to immigration agreements between the two countries, Thai visitors are supposed to be able to enter New Zealand for up to three months without a visa.

The New Zealand Herald described October 13 how Pimthong Udumpun from Thailand was deported from New Zealand in 1999 when she came to visit relatives. This year, on her second attempt to enter the country, she was jailed for two and a half days, and was even denied sanitary napkins or a change of clothes.

Meanwhile, Joseph Holub from Czechoslovakia, who is mentally handicapped, was refused entry and deported October 23, two hours after arriving to join his family who live here and are seeking refugee status.  
 
Fear of applying for amnesty
These events are having an impact on the number of people applying for amnesty under the new law. About one-third of the estimated 20,000 undocumented immigrants in New Zealand are said to qualify, but only a few hundred people have applied to date. About half of undocumented immigrants are Pacific Islanders, mainly Samoan and Tongan. Many are unwilling to provide the contact information required to process the application because, if they are denied amnesty, immigration officials can turn it into a deportation list.

In order to be considered "well settled" under the amnesty provisions, immigrants must meet one of three criteria. They must either have been living in New Zealand for five years, have New Zealandûborn children, or be married or in a similar relationship for at least two years with a New Zealand citizen or resident. Those who qualify must pay $500 to apply for a two-year work permit, which if granted can be followed up with an application for permanent residency. However, this will only be granted to those who meet "good character" requirements and have not been out of the country for more than 90 days.

Immigrants who have applied for refugee status are excluded from the amnesty, even if they can prove that they fit the "well-settled" criteria. This sparked a response by more than 100 Chinese immigrants who set up a protest camp in downtown Auckland in late September. Around half of them went on a hunger strike for eight days, 20 of whom were hospitalized after collapsing.

Minister of Immigration Lianne Dalziel refused to meet the protesters. "Their actions are blackmail. It's like putting a gun to my head and saying to all and sundry that this is how you get the Minister of Immigration to change her mind," she said October 3. Two days later, however, senior immigration department officials agreed to negotiate with the hunger strikers, and the protest was ended.

In recent months, immigration cops have also been raiding workplaces on the pretext of looking for undocumented immigrants. Last January the government raided 33 premises in Auckland. On October 18, 20 police raided a timber mill in Tokoroa, south of Auckland, claiming they were looking for drugs. Several workers were manhandled and one subjected to a strip search in front of management and co-workers during the raid. Andrew Little, the national secretary of the Engineers Union, which represents the 270 workers there, protested the raid, saying it was the first time he had ever heard of such a move in New Zealand.

At an October 6 Militant Labour Forum held here to protest the government's attacks on immigrants, Jun Yu, a supporter of the Chinese hunger strikers, explained how undocumented immigrants are superexploited by capitalist bosses. Yu said many workers in agricultural and food service industries make as little as NZ$3.50 an hour, less than half the legal minimum wage (NZ$1.00=US$0.40). He added that immigrants who are deemed illegal have no access to social welfare benefits or state-funded services such as health care and education.

Mua Strickson-Pua, chaplain of the Tagata Pasifika Resource Centre, who also spoke at the forum, said, "There are communities of families who have had no access to social services. There are families of children who have not been to school for 12 years in this country, but we're led to believe that they're overworking our health system, education system, and filling up our prisons."

The goal of the government and the employers "is not to drive all immigrants out of the country," said Terry Coggan of the Communist League, who also addressed the meeting. "They use the threat of deportation to maintain immigrants in a permanent second-class status" in order to divide the working class and justify the denial of basic rights, while continuing to superexploit this layer of working people. The labor movement, he said, "should welcome immigrant workers and champion their rights."

Felicity Coggan and Colin Heath are members of the National Distribution Union.  
 
 
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