The ICE Detention Centre Housing Everlee Wihongi

Hi,

Yesterday I drove to the Adelanto ICE Processing Centre with my friend Rob Holysz, who I make Flightless Bird with. I wanted to see where the US government was keeping New Zealander Everlee Wihongi.

As explained by her mother Betty last week, Everlee had arrived back at LAX after a trip to New Zealand. She's been living in the US since age six, but had happily travelled back and forth to New Zealand when need be.

She's been on a green card for the last 30 years – but this time, the green card was no good. She was detained by ICE at LAX, before being kidnapped and shipped away to the Adelanto Ice Processing Center. There was talk of an issue with a previous stolen green card, and Everlee being caught with weed (a case already dealt with by the courts).

But we all know she's there because she's brown.

Everlee has been locked up for two weeks now. She still hasn't officially been told why she's there, or when she may get out. She'd quite like to get back to her family in Wisconsin, and to go back to her work as a welder. Instead she's trapped, dressed in an orange jumpsuit, wondering how this will end.

So far, the New Zealand government has taken zero interest in helping. And the US government – well, they're the ones who kidnapped her.

The ICE complex is a two hour dive from central LA, situated in the Mojave Desert. It feels like the wasteland you see at the end of David Fincher's Seven, when Brad Pitt is screaming, "What's in the box?"

There is a small town nearby, Adelanto. Its motto is "The City with Unlimited Possibilities." One of the last things you drive by before reaching the facility is a weed dispensary. The irony isn't lost on Everlee.

I wasn't allowed inside, but Rob went in to visit with Everlee for about an hour. He passed on well wishes from her family, and the goodwill from places like here. From all those that know what's going on is absolutely batshit. He was the first "outside" friendly face she'd seen since being kidnapped. She was as upbeat as she could be – what her personality tends to be – but it's hard in there.

The hardest part is having no idea how long she's going to be there. It could be weeks, it could be months. Her cellmate has been there for a year.

These are some photos I took outside, which I hope demonstrate how bleak this all is. For Everlee, and for all the other people dumped there. They're living in a kind of purgatory; their American dream in shatters.

David.