When Pacific Islanders were raided in their beds

The dawn raids began in 1974 when the Labour government, faced with an economic downturn, clamped down on people overstaying their working visas. Samoans and Tongans - welcomed into New Zealand with open arms in the 1950s and 60s to relieve a huge labour shortage - were the main targets.
Police with dogs burst into homes at dawn; Pacific people were randomly stopped in the street. A study a decade later showed Polynesians had made up only a third of overstayers but more than 80 per cent of all prosecutions for overstaying.
The distressing and divisive raids ended in the late 1970s but they damaged the relationship between Pacific Islanders and New Zealand, tarnishing its image of a rich, multicultural society.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/when-pacific-islanders-were-raided-in-their-beds/IRQ6WGHJS2XYHOEQ76HCEJNBGY/

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