Canadian detained for 11 days by U.S. immigration speaks out for others stuck in limbo

Yvette Brend · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 05, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

Jasmine Mooney's grin went viral aft 35-year-old Canadian was taken into U.S. custody astatine the Mexican borderline successful March, but her communicative is present whispered successful fear. 

On March 3, Mooney tried to get her enactment visa renewed, entering astatine an immigration office astatine the Mexico-San Diego border, against a U.S. lawyer's advice. Instead she ended up being denied, and then, each of a sudden, detained.

Mooney spent 11 days successful custody — disconnected and connected successful cement cells she says are dubbed "ice boxes" — with small much than a bladed foil exigency blanket. Mooney says she faced galore transfers, humiliating aesculapian tests, degrading attraction and nary answers — contempt pleas to fto her wage for her ain formation home.

She astatine archetypal refused food and couldn't sleep, but past forced herself to get up and assistance others.

"It breaks you. That spot breaks you into a cardinal pieces. It is truthful disgusting what goes connected successful there," Mooney told CBC News successful an interrogation connected Thursday.

Her lawsuit is 1 of a bid of instances involving non-U.S. travellers that has travellers and ineligible experts concerned.

WATCH | Jasmine Mooney describes her ICE detainment:

Mooney's communicative has go a benignant of warning, a harbinger of a shifting cognition toward Canadians travelling oregon trying to enactment successful the U.S.

Immigration lawyers are urging radical who request visa renewals to opt to spell to airports, wherever they tin beryllium processed connected Canadian soil, with nary hazard of getting detained if they are deemed ineligible.

'Chilling effect'

Mooney's Blaine, Wash.-based immigration lawyer Ken Saunders said her lawsuit is scaring Canadian travellers.

"It has a immense chilling effect connected Canadians going to the United States," said Saunders.

He advised her not to effort to reapply for her visa astatine a Mexican introduction point, fixed changes helium saw nether the caller Trump administration. 

"She wasn't trying to bash thing illegal. She thought she was doing the close thing," said Saunders.

"I've ne'er seen a Canadian national who's applied for a enactment visa, either a marque caller 1 oregon a renewal, being detained similar this."

Mooney was astatine 1 point held astatine a San Diego-area situation wherever a Chinese inmate offered up her telephone clip enabling Mooney to get her plea retired to astatine slightest 1 reporter. At that point, she had no thought that her communicative had gone viral and truthful galore radical were warring for her freedom. She was released wrong a fewer days and near feeling "lucky."

Mooney says she near a batch of women down erstwhile she was released and wants to radiance a airy into Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centres and however radical extremity up trapped there.

"I met a miss who had been successful determination 8 months," she said.

She says the women helped her get out — and urged her to archer their stories. Mooney says determination were astir 140 women successful her portion astatine the Otay Mesa Detention Center, 1 of the archetypal places she was held, in the Ysidro Mountains foothills of Otay Mesa overlooking the U.S.-Mexico border. She describes however astir of the women she met had lived successful the U.S. illegally and overstayed visas — detained with nary informing erstwhile they reapplied.

 "You conscionable each of the girls who had trekked from India, from Iran, from Africa, they're covered caput to toed successful bug bites and scars from their travel and they paid each of this money, gave up everything they owned to travel to America and past extremity up successful jailhouse and they're each astir apt getting shipped backmost to their countries," said Mooney.

'Scorched earth' attack to immigration

Mooney, who grew up successful Yukon and had been surviving successful B.C. until past year, is 1 successful a series of caller U.S. migration detention cases that person caught attraction internationally. 

In January, German tattoo creator Jessica Brösche was was held for much than a period aft borderline agents assumed she'd enactment illegally. A 28-year-old British backpacker was held for 10 days aft trying to participate Washington State from Canada. She'd been surviving with big families trading housework for committee connected a tourer visa. A mates returning from Tijuana ended up handcuffed: U.S. national Lennon Tyler was chained to a bench, her German fiance Lucas Sielaff held for 16 days for violating his 90 time tourer permit.

NPR reported the communicative of a Guatemalan migrant named Sarahi who accidentally drove the incorrect mode crossed the Ambassador Bridge trying to spell to Costco — and ended up held for 5 days successful a windowless bureau adjacent the span with her daughters, 2 U.S. citizens aged 1 and five.

"I don't deliberation that the Americans are targeting Canadians. I deliberation they're targeting anyone immigrating oregon visiting the United States. There's this heightened scrutiny," said Saunders. "It's astir a scorched world whether you're coming successful and applying for a enactment visa oregon coming successful arsenic a visitor."

He's urging anybody reapplying for visas to bash it astatine an airdrome — wherever they are harmless connected Canadian ungraded and can't beryllium detained.

However, helium says he's not shocked that immoderate Canadians are conscionable opting to skip immoderate U.S. travel

Work visa trouble

Mooney archetypal deed migration occupation past spring. She'd applied for her enactment visa astatine the Blaine, Wash. borderline bureau and was denied. The serviceman noticed missing leader letterhead. She tried again astatine the San Diego borderline successful April of 2024. The visa was issued nary problem, so she returned to California and worked. She says she didn't person a occupation again — contempt aggregate borderline crossings — until she headed backmost into the U.S. aft a sojourn to household successful November.

Upon return, she says a borderline agent told that her visa had been improperly processed. She was interrogated and that work visa was revoked, aft borderline officials noted her merchandise contained hemp.

After a fewer months successful Canada, she was offered different job and says she was told by different lawyer that it was acceptable to effort to reapply.

"The worst that I thought would hap is that I would get denied," she said.

She headed to the San Diego migration bureau that archetypal processed her visa on March 3. After hours determination explaining her situation, she says the serviceman told her she'd person to reapply done a consulate. Then Mooney says the pistillate serviceman added: "You didn't bash thing wrong, you are not successful trouble, you are not a criminal."

She was told they'd person to nonstop her backmost to Canada. But arsenic Mooney sat searching for flights location connected her telephone she says that a antheral appeared and told her to travel with him.

She knew thing was mode disconnected erstwhile they pulled the shoelaces from her sneakers.

"Later I recovered retired that's truthful you don't bent yourself successful jail," said Mooney.

CBC News reached retired to U.S. officials for much details astir her case. A connection from Sandra Grisolia of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement explained that Mooney was processed successful accordance with the "Securing Our Borders" Executive Order dated Jan. 21. It states that each aliens successful usurpation of U.S. migration instrumentality whitethorn beryllium taxable to arrest, detention and, if recovered removable by last order, removal from the U.S., careless of nationality.

 Saunders says that Mooney plans to entreaty her revoked visa and loves the U.S. She was pursuing a selling vocation determination selling a hemp-infused h2o merchandise – aft moving bars and restaurants successful Vancouver.