Source: ACT Party
Headline: Minister must intervene in Middleton case
“The callous treatment of Mark Middleton at the hands of immigration authorities is simply outrageous and Associate Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi must put it right”, says ACT Leader David Seymour.
“Middleton has called New Zealand home for the last 56 years.
“Instead of contacting him by phone or email, Immigration NZ burst into his workplace, threw him in jail, and gave him no access to the phone.
“With about 10,000 overstayers in the country, Immigration NZ knows full well there far more serious cases it should attend to.
“That it chose to round up and throw in jail a hardworking man who has been in the country since 1962, rather than encouraging him to apply for a visa, is nothing short of an outrage.
“The Labour Party was up in arms when Australia began deporting New Zealanders who had lived across the ditch for most of their lives.
“Faafoi must show some the same compassion to Middleton, cancel his deportation order, and issue him a section 61 visa”, says Mr Seymour.