Everlee Foiled By ICE, Again

Everlee Wihongi was meant to take the stand today. ICE had other plans.

Everlee Wihongi's family outside the court is Wisconsin this afternoon on May 21.

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Early this afternoon members of Everlee Wihongi's family met with her lawyer at the Fond du Lac County courthouse in Wisconsin, about an hour's drive northwest of Milwaukee.

"Fingers crossed that it goes well," Everlee's mother Betty texted me. The hearing was due to take place at 1.30pm.

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Everlee's lawyer, Marc Christopher, had one main aim today: To get Everlee's "marijuana possession" conviction from 2014 vacated. Without that historical conviction, Everlee goes free. That was the plan.

Most of Christopher's argument revolves around Everlee's previous lawyer from 10 years ago giving bad advice, and being a terrible lawyer. As Webworm reported on April 28, he was disbarred for lying to clients, and forging a judge's signature.

Everlee's former lawyer (often a sweaty mess) never told his client that pleading guilty could cause problems with her with future immigration. Back in 2014, Everlee was under the impression that after admitting the charge, she would be punished – and life would go on.

And for a decade, it had. She trained and became a successful welder. She got a partner. She got a dog.

Everlee was also meant to be a key part of today's hearing. She had important points to make on the stand (in her case, "the stand" was calling in from the Eloy Federal Contract Facility, an ICE prison in Arizona) – about her previous case, and her life in the USA.

Everlee didn't get to take the stand.

As 1.30pm rolled around, Everlee couldn't call in. Magically, the WiFi in the ICE prison had ceased to work. As I've written about previously on Webworm, ICE marches to the beat of a different drum. A key part of their M.O. is making sure those imprisoned don't get to meet with their lawyer easily, and in cases like today – don't get to take the stand in front of a judge in a different state.

*Confusion in the hallway after Everlee couldn't Zoom in from the ICE detention facility.*

Webworm talked to Everlee's sister-in-law Courtney Wihongi a short while ago. The family was trying to make sense of what had just happened.

"It was a freaking crap show. We've been working for the past two weeks to try and get Everlee to be able to appear via Zoom. On Monday, we were guaranteed – between the New Zealand consulate, and our lawyer working with the facility – the facility guaranteed us that it would work out, and that Everlee would be able to appear via Zoom for the hearing today."

Betty got a call from Everlee at 1.15pm, stating that the facility has no internet and she would not be able to appear via Zoom. "I just knew. I thought something would happen," Betty tells me.

It was incredibly frustrating, as she was on the phone to her mother – who was inside the courthouse. However the judge wasn't content having Everlee on speaker, as it wouldn't suffice for the court stenographer. This is understandable.

ICE's sudden lack of the internet is not.

"I'm just so irritated," Betty tells me.

Everlee's hearing has been delayed until next Thursday. The only upside is that Everlee's lawyer has now met the DA, and they were able to have a conversation. Despite their frustration, Everlee's family – out in full force today – is quietly confident about next week. It's their only choice.

It's been 41 days since Everlee was taken by ICE at LAX airport on April 10.

She will remain at the Eloy Federal Contract Facility, a private prison operated by CoreCivic. It spans seven football fields and holds 1600 detainees.

Betty recently relayed this story to Webworm about Everlee's intake there:

Her intake group were told that they'd have to complete their intake by signing some forms, in a different block.

Later that day, a male guard came and got them. He took them through the strip search section – which was a weird detour. There was a door that had "Do Not Enter, Strip Search in Progress" as they walked by. They could see into the room, and there was a guard in the room pulling his pants up and doing up his belt.

The other women asked why he was getting dressed in a strip search room. Their guard told them, "Not to worry about it".

They were then given forms, and they were told to sign where the guard had marked X's. The other ladies signed, but Everlee read it and told them she wasn't going to sign. She said they wanted her to sign off on handbook access – which she didn't get – and wanted her to sign a "refusal to pass info on in case of emergencies". That was another no.

Webworm will keep you updated with what happens next.

David.