Tongan family's last-ditch attempt to stop aunt's deportation fails

A last-ditch attempt from a Tongan family to stop their aunt from facing deportation has failed.

Loasi Latu cares for her intellectually disabled brother Viliami Takapautolo full-time and has asked the minister in charge to consider a special exemption to keep her here.

"Every night, I wake him up two or three times to go to the toilet. Otherwise, he goes on the bed," Latu said.

Her niece, Karina Kaufasi, added: "He can't talk, he can't eat. For example, if we were to leave him to go to the shower, he would turn it up to boiling hot – he wouldn't do anything about it and he'd let himself boil."

But the family fears her days here are numbered – Latu and her husband have overstayed their student visas by over 20 years.

They had until yesterday to leave the country voluntarily.

Latu said she was feeling "heartbroken" and "scared" about the prospect of leaving New Zealand.

"I want to be free to keep looking after my brother."

The family say they began an application for permanent residency before their visas expired and were under the impression it had been filed.

Kaufasi said they had gotten an immigration adviser "well-known" to Immigration NZ and the Tongan community.

"They paid him thousands and thousands of dollars, but he did not submit for their residency and it wasn't until years and years after that they found out."

Another application was made last year for an exemption, known as a special direction, but it was declined in January.

They have since gathered new evidence to try and strengthen their case, including a letter from a psychologist.

"Viliami does not communicate verbally, so his case relies on the daily cues that Loasi has learned and understood over the past two decades," the letter read.

"Transitioning to a new caregiver would result in considerable psychological distress, not only for Loasi and [her husband] but for Viliami as well."

The family has also commissioned an independent report by The Commercial Advisory Partnership on the economic implications of granting Loasi and her husband a resident visa.

"Continued presence of Loasi and her care services will benefit the State by the avoidance of future high needs residential care costs which is estimated to be $1.89m over the remainder of Viliami’s life expectancy," the report reads.

"Historically, the State has already enjoyed the avoidance of such costs of care for Viliami which is estimated to be $1.87m in nominal terms over the course of the past 20 years."

Kaufasi said it was therefore in New Zealand's best interest for Loasi to remain in the country.

"The immigration policy, it's designed to take into consideration New Zealand's best interest and it considers the economic, humanitarian, and social implications," she said.

But Associate Immigration Minister Chris Penk has declined to review the information.

In a letter to the family, he said he won't consider requests by people who have had an application for ministerial intervention rejected in the last 18 months.

He declined to speak to 1News, with a spokesperson saying it wasn't in the minister’s standard practice to comment on specific cases due to privacy reasons.

"It's not that the minister can't look at, it's that he won't," Kaufasi said.

"We are now providing new information not previously shown to the minister that is compelling and in the public interest."

Immigration NZ told 1News that Loasi has no further right to appeal.

"We acknowledge this is a challenging situation for Loasi Latu, her husband and their family," national manager of compliance Stephanie Greathead said.

"However, they have been unlawfully in New Zealand since March 2004. They were told at the time they needed to make arrangements to leave the country as they were in New Zealand unlawfully."

She said Immigration NZ was now considering its next steps.

A petition calling for Immigration NZ to halt Latu and her husband's deportation can be found here.

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