New Zealand-born teen facing deportation to India appeals to authorities to stay
Daman Kumar told the Herald he wants immigration officials to allow him to remain in New Zealand – a country he calls home – so he can start university and continue to contribute to society.
“This is my home and my country. I feel a very deep connection to this country as I’ve been here my whole life and all I ask is that I’m given a chance,” he told the Herald.
Kumar said he’d have no idea how to find a job in India given a lack of connections there and inability to read and write Punjabi.
“If I go to India, they’re just setting me up for failure.”
He hasn’t spoken publicly about his plight before and never mentioned his background to friends because he wanted to be treated as an equal among his peers while going through school.
“I never told anyone, but they’ve treated me as a normal person, as a normal human being in this country, as a Kiwi.”
His sister, Radhika, said the situation threatens to “rip the family apart”.
“I find that quite unfair because our whole life we’ve grown up together. I believe that the minister should definitely give my parents and my brother a chance, especially my brother, since it’s definitely not his fault,” she said.
She said the family have tried to appeal to authorities by sending a “special direction” request to Associate Immigration Minister Chris Penk, which was turned down by his officials.
Lawyer Alastair McClymont, who’s working pro bono for the family, said Daman is blameless but is now faced with being labelled a criminal.
“I think every single Kiwi in this country would be absolutely horrified that this sort of thing is happening,” he said.
He said in other similar cases he’s come across, government officials have shown sympathy.
He likened the situation to US President Donald Trump’s hardline policy targeting immigrants.
“Now we have the actual Minister of Immigration saying, no, we’re going to deport him to a foreign country. I’ve never come across that before in 28 years, and I’m really worried about the way that the system is now working when we see what’s happening in the United States.”
McClymont called the situation an “absolute disgrace” and felt any compassion within the immigration system appeared to have been lost.
An Immigration NZ (INZ) document seen by the Herald declined a request for ministerial intervention.
“They are in New Zealand unlawfully and must depart at the earliest opportunity,” an INZ decision-maker said.
A spokeswoman for Associate Immigration Minister Chris Penk told the Herald the matter was “operational”.
Daman Kumar is still hoping an avenue will be made available for him and his family to stay in New Zealand, where he has aspirations of starting university to study webpage design and information technology.
Green Party immigration spokesman Ricardo Menéndez March said New Zealand is “all Daman knows” and he has no connection to India.
He told the Herald he’s writing to Minister Penk to ask him to intervene and reconsider the case.
“The minister here has an opportunity to do the right thing and grant a residency class visa [to Daman] alongside his family so that they can stay in the country that they belong to,” he said.
Michael Morrah is a senior investigative reporter/team leader at the Herald. He won the best coverage of a major news event at the 2024 Voyager NZ Media Awards and has twice been named reporter of the year. He has been a broadcast journalist for 20 years and joined the Herald’s video team in July 2024.