New Zealand-born teen facing deportation to India appeals to authorities to stay - Kumar gets redeemed.

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• Daman Kumar, 18, faces deportation to India despite being born in New Zealand.
• His lawyer, Alastair McClymont, calls the decision a “disgrace” and urges compassion from immigration officials.
• The Green Party’s Ricardo Menéndez March is advocating for Kumar to be granted a residency visa.

An 18-year-old born in New Zealand has been told to leave or face deportation to India – a country he’s never been to – in a case his lawyer calls a “disgrace” of a magnitude he hasn’t witnessed in 28 years of practice.

Daman Kumar has been told to leave the country by Monday or he’ll be issued with a deportation order.

That’s despite his 22-year-old sister Radhika Kumar being allowed to stay here lawfully because she was born before changes to the Citizenship Act in 2006.

The siblings’ parents have lived here around 24 years as overstayers. They have also been threatened with deportation.


Daman Kumar (18, right) and his 22-year-old sister Radhika (left) were both born in New Zealand. Daman is being threatened with deportation.
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 is appealing for immigration officials to reverse its decision to deport his client Daman Kumar to India – a country he's never visited.
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.


Associate Immigration Minister Chris Penk.
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”.

INZ’s general manager of investigations and compliance, Steve Watson, acknowledged the difficult situation Daman, his sister and his mother, Sunita Devi, were faced with.

He said children born in New Zealand after January 1, 2006 automatically hold the most favourable visa status of their parents.

“Because Devi was unlawfully in New Zealand at the time of Daman’s birth, he therefore inherits her immigration status as being unlawfully in New Zealand,” he said.

He said INZ had already extended the deadline for the family to leave twice.

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.

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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.

 

[Stephen Rothman]

Kaloti says the family came from the lowly Dalit caste and will face prejudice in India, and have very few relations there as most have emigrated. “Daman has absolutely no experience of that country, he doesn’t understand the culture, he doesn’t know the language,” she says. “It would be so cruel.”

Yeah, imagine raising your kid like that, knowing you're liable to get kicked out at any moment. Completely irredeemable.

 

[TaimuRadiu]

New Zealand: Fuck Off We're Full

 

[Elim Garak]

This tendency towards durgasofting oneself must be genetic.

Do not click that link. My eyes were raped with horrible web 1.0 design.

 

[greatUncleShitHeel]

God, I fucking hate New Zealand so much. They get to pretend like they’re the most progressive faggots and brow beat the world., but when it comes to their borders, all of a sudden they grow a backbone.

So do I, and I'm from this hell hole. Then again I hate every other country too and rightfully so.

You're mostly thinking of the same gaggle of retarded faggots who think Labour/Greens are a great idea and don't understand economics or just straight up hate whites (many themselves being white). I can't figure out which party on the left is worse, but I'd put money on the Greens.

Onto a more general point - this is the first time I've heard of this shit. But it's pretty funny. Every few years a group of street shitting jeets do this, get told to get the fuck out and then whine to media as for some reason my shit hole country needs to take them as they're somehow not a net drain on the planet.
Oh and these people are dalits. Delightful. I still don't care. Get the fuck out all of you.

The reason this is even coming up at all for a few reasons.

1. My retarded ass country has the benefit of being able to see into the future (i.e. watch what the rest of the world is doing and act accordingly) yet we insist on remaining socially and economically behind 6-12 months. It's baffling until you consider that Wellington is a smaller and shittier version of Melbourne, which is in itself a smaller and shittier version of London which is in itself the grand poobah of pozzed shit holes. Much of the public service is based in Wellington as is at least 2 pillars of our fake and gay mainstream media (RNZ & Stuff).
2. Our Mainstream/Legacy media (TVNZ, Newshub, RNZ, NZME, Stuff and The ODT) are all for the most part a bunch of corrupt, out of touch leftists, boomers, maori supremacists and soy chugging retards who would gladly line up quaff the piss of the previous prime minister if they were offered it. They do this as many suffer from TDS (despite being New Zealanders), were handed piles of cash (to shill maori party bullshit and push covid nonsense) by our previous government in the form of the Public Interest Journalism Fund. The current government has not given them money.
3. Our current government is a three stooges deal that leans centre right. They've also been slightly more selective about immigration in that the main coalition partner is trying the tested method of trying to court wealthy degenerates to invest which mostly means tonguing the anuses of DNC voting Americans with money, arabs and CCP assets. Ironically even they can tell which way the wind blows geopolitically so are probably beginning to crack down. They also hilariously told the media to collectively fuck off while negotiating the current government which is probably why the media has sand in its collective vagina and is bringing this up. If Labour was in charge you wouldn't hear a peep about this.
4. The gaggle of retards I've described above think overstayers are just poor innocent children, in the same way dipshits who support the DNC or other waste of oxygen leftist party believe it.

Having said this, I don't care about any of these people, my country would be better without them, I think it's funny, and they should all be forced to leave forever as should all over-stayers. Especially Ricardo Menéndez March. Glad to see INZ actually starting to do it's job.

Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.

 

[Oilspill Battery]

I mean its a shit sitiuation all around. Getting deported to india is the equivallent to being deported to one of the circles of hell. But on the other hand:

The siblings’ parents have lived here around 24 years as overstayers.

He said INZ had already extended the deadline for the family to leave twice.

Like fuck having borders and law and shit. The lawyer goes on and on about compassion, but what about rule of law?

I can understand the logic behind fighting unjust laws, but how the fuck is the law "Don't overstay 24 years in a place you're no longer welcome" unjust? Parents are horrible people and I don't think their audacity should be rewarded by saying "fuck the law lol".

 

[Moths]

The siblings’ parents have lived here around 24 years as overstayers. They have also been threatened with deportation.

Oh so the retards tried to anchor baby but were too smooth brained to realize this doesnt really happen pitside of america

“They are in New Zealand unlawfully and must depart at the earliest opportunity,” an INZ decision-maker said.

He said INZ had already extended the deadline for the family to leave twice.

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.

So the admin has already bent over for them and they cant even figure out how to renew their fucking visa?

Also it sounds like youd fit right in back at home with the other javascript monkeys.

 

[jertzog]

Hear that accent? He visits the country every time he goes home to his family where they speak hindoo, where they eat hindoo, where they live hindoo. All he's losing is a bit of familiarity and access to a western welfare state.
Surely the knowledge and good habits he's been able to adopt from the west will help him be a success back home, a 10th-percentile achiever at the minimum. If he can't be, how could he be expected to be an asset to New Zealanstinople?

 

[anklyscr]

The siblings’ parents have lived here around 24 years as overstayers. They have also been threatened with deportation.

ah the crux of the problem. wouldn't be a good head line if it read "illegal immigrant sent back to India with family"

he wants to go to university to study visual arts.

deport

I remember when they were smugly chuckling at everyone having Covid

they're an irrelevant island in the middle of fucking no where , 1000 miles from the nearest proper prison that no one goes to.
for greater relevance you could list number of cases on the ISS or the moon

 

[frozen_runner]

You know what other phrase you could use to refer to an 18-year old male? An adult man.

 

[The Backwards Man]

They get to pretend like they’re the most progressive faggots and brow beat the world., but when it comes to their borders, all of a sudden they grow a backbone.

canada of the south

 

[VargReallyDidNothingWrong]

Daman Kumar has been told to leave the country by Monday or he’ll be issued with a deportation order.

That’s despite his 22-year-old sister Radhika Kumar being allowed to stay here lawfully because she was born before changes to the Citizenship Act in 2006.

The siblings’ parents have lived here around 24 years as overstayers. They have also been threatened with deportation.

Why the fuck laws gotta exist and sheeeit, why the fuck actions gotta have consequences and sheeeit??!

No sympy, deport his illegal parents, deport him, deport his illegal anchor baby sister too.

 

[The Dude]

Yeah, imagine raising your kid like that, knowing you're liable to get kicked out at any moment. Completely irredeemable.

That's the thing though: they DIDN'T think they'd ever get kicked out. They believed that they were entitled to stay since they had been living there for so long. They never thought the native citizens would ever grow a backbone and kick out the illegals, similar to how things in the US have been. The problem is that, as in America, they were not only uninvited guests, they were BAD uninvited guests and their hosts are sick and tired of giving them their hospitality. They've worn out their welcome, and now they're going to act like victims.

 

[White_N]

"New Zealand-born", huh? Very cute.

 

[Dracula's Spirit Animal]

This tendency towards durgasofting oneself must be genetic.

I'm not sure what I find more disturbing... That website, or the fact that there are some retard pajeets who got an "education" off of it that can see my banking details on their screen when I have to call my bank.

 

[FILTH Tourist]

Can't imagine a worser fate than having to go to India, for anybody.

If the dude speaks good English and has a degree he could find work abroad without much issue as long as he voluntarily leaves so he doesn't have a deportation on his record. If thr guy loses his lawsuit he is going to make it more difficult to leave India.

 

[Criticallacitirc]

Just move to India and then get an H1B to come to the US . 3 years later your tech company will sponsor you for a green card and then you can bring the whole family over. Problem solved.

 

[greatUncleShitHeel]

canada of the south

It's a toss up between us and Australia in all the worst possible ways.

 

[Godchu]

Update:

Deportation of NZ-born teen on hold as minister reviews case​

Archive

Spoiler

The threatened deportation of an 18-year-old New Zealand-born man is on hold, with the Associate Immigration Minister Chris Penk telling the Herald he is yet to make a decision about the case.

Daman Kumar was told to leave the country today or he’ll be issued with a deportation order.

That’s despite his 22-year-old sister Radhika Kumar being allowed to stay here lawfully because she was born before changes to the Citizenship Act in 2006.

The siblings’ parents have lived here around 24 years as overstayers. They have also been threatened with deportation.

The Herald has seen a letter from an Immigration New Zealand (INZ) official to Daman Kumar’s representative in December stating that they had delegated responsibility to make decisions on behalf of Penk, and “after careful consideration”, his bid for ministerial intervention in his case was declined.

However, Penk’s office says he’s yet to make a call about the fate of Daman and his family.

“No decision has yet been made by the Associate Minister. To date, decisions have been made by Immigration NZ officials,” a spokeswoman said.

She said the minister would “consider all relevant factors” regarding the case before he decides what to do.


Daman’s lawyer, Alastair McClymont, told the Herald he’s confirmed with INZ that Daman and his family will not be deported today as initially threatened.

“Immigration New Zealand has given me an undertaking that they will not deport Daman and his family today and will wait until the minister has considered the latest request,” he told the Herald.

McClymont, who called the threat to deport Daman an “absolute disgrace”, said Penk could and should act swiftly on the matter.

“Section 378 of the Immigration Act allows the minister to do anything he or she likes. He could do it by phone - call them [his officials] and grant this kid a residency.”

Daman Kumar told the Herald on Friday that 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.”

Kumar said he’d have no idea how to find a job in India given a lack of connections there and an inability to read and write Punjabi.

“If I go to India, they’re just setting me up for failure.”

Until last week, he hadn’t spoken publicly about his plight 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.

Green Party immigration spokesman Ricardo Menéndez March said New Zealand is “all Daman knows” and he has no connection to India.

He wrote to Penk on Friday asking him to 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.

and

Kiwi kid who has never left NZ may be spared deportation​

Archive

Spoiler

After Stuff highlighted the deportation plight of Kiwi-born teenager Daman Kumar, pressure has grown on ministers to intervene - and Chris Penk may now change his mind, writes Steve Kilgallon.

Associate Immigration Minister Chris Penk is reconsidering the case of Daman Kumar, the teenager who’s due to be deported to India despite having been born and raised in New Zealand.

On Friday, Stuff highlighted Daman’s case, who is liable to be deported any time from Monday as an overstayer - despite having never left the country.

The 18-year-old was born to overstayer parents six months after the January 2006 implementation of a law change which removed automatic citizenship from all babies born on New Zealand soil, meaning he’s never been here legally - however, his sister, born in 2002, is a citizen.

Daman and his parents have exhausted all options to stay in the country and until now, Penk has refused to use his power to intervene and offer them residence visas.

Among those to write to Penk and Immigration Minister Erica Stanford over the weekend were senior Indian business figures, including the Indian Business Association, and a former senior Immigration official. The Green Party have also organised a letter-writing campaign.

On Monday, Penk’s office indicated he was re-considering the case.

A statement said: “The Associate Minister will be considering advice on the matter. No decision has yet been made by the Associate Minister. To date, decisions have been made by Immigration NZ officials. As is standard practice, the Associate Minister will consider all relevant factors in reaching a decision.”

At the weekend, Penk responded to criticism on X/Twitter, by writing: “Cases involving illegality are often considered in the context of fairness to those who have played by the rules.”

Daman’s lawyer Alastair McClymont said he had been told on Monday that Immigration NZ’s Compliance division would not be deporting the Kumars that day - but he didn’t know how long that stay of execution would hold.

The Kumar family, who haven’t held valid visas since 2004, lodged an appeal with Penk last May, which was declined in December. They were served a Deportation Liability Notice telling them to leave New Zealand voluntarily by February 17.

Appeals direct to a minister are usually handled by Designated Departmental Decision Makers (DDDMs) - civil servants attached to the minister’s office, who would follow guidance laid down by that minister.

However, the convention is that the minister would look directly at any case directly flagged by another MP - as happened on Friday, when the Green’s Immigration spokesman Ricardo Menendez-March wrote to Penk asking him to review the case.

Menendez-March was heartened by Penk’s statement, and said he ought to grant visas to the whole family and also offer an amnesty to other young people in Kumar’s position. “Chris Penk has the opportunity to do the right thing by Daman and his family, and we encourage him to consider Daman’s support network, in this case his parents, when making a decision,” he said.

“The truth is that there are countless people like Daman living in the shadows and Chris Penk has the opportunity to encourage those people who have grown up in New Zealand without a regularised status to come forward and have the opportunity to settle legally in Aotearoa.”

McClymont, said: “[Penk] has virtually unlimited powers under the Immigration Act to grant Daman a Resident Visa by simply calling his officials and telling them to do so. The minister, Erica Stanford, has the same power and the buck stops with her. I’m sure she has Chris Penk’s phone number and the onus is on her to do the right thing and tell her fellow Kiwis that compassion and mercy still exists in this Government’s decision making.”

Stanford appeared on TVNZ’s Q and A on Sunday where she said she had heard about the case but did not know the details. She said: “It’s not my job to intervene, it is for the Associate Minister and the DDDMs. But I would say there are rules in place and they are there for a reason.”

Among those to write to the ministers this weekend was former Department of Labour deputy chief executive and chief legal advisor Graeme Buchanan. Buchanan had a long involvement in immigration policy and acted as a DDDM.

In a letter to Stanford, he wrote: “If I was the DDDM presented with his case, it would have been a no-brainer to regularise his status. I am equally sure my colleagues at the time would have thought the same. I can only speculate as to why a current DDDM might have said no.

“This was and is a decision clearly requiring a ‘Yes’ mentality: yes to compassion, yes to empathy, yes to understanding a family’s anguish and plight, yes to no negatives for NZ Inc, yes to a young man’s future.”

Buchanan added: “You need to intervene urgently to override Minister Penk’s decision.”

The Indian Business Association wrote to Penk on Friday asking him to urgently reconsider and also grant an amnesty to others in Daman’s situation.
In a letter signed by general secretary Jaspreet Kandari, the Association wrote that “this case raises serious humanitarian and ethical concerns”.

Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated Daman Kumar was born eight weeks after a 2006 law change, which removed automatic citizenship from all babies born on New Zealand soil. Daman was actually born six months after the January 2006 implementation of a law change. (Amended: 2.28pm, 17/02/2025.)

TLR Immigration cucked out and the family isn't getting deported. Sounds like the attorneys are gearing up to use the sister as an anchor baby, after all.

 

[skunt]

sounds like this unlucky young chap missed out on the easiest H1B to the land of the free. sucks to be him

 

[Apteryx Retardi]

Just move to India and then get an H1B to come to the US . 3 years later your tech company will sponsor you for a green card and then you can bring the whole family over. Problem solved.

AFAIK the H1B jeets hate foreign born/westernized jeets and try to purge them from any workplace they've managed to sufficiently infest. And on top of that, he's a fucking Dalit. He's not gonna get out of India through the usual channels, other jeets will crab bucket him just out of spite.