Her mother says 35-year-old Jasmine Mooney has been detained in inhumane conditions since March 3

https://vancouversun.com/news/bc-woman-detained-at-us-border-sent-to-arizona-detention-facility

Handout photo of Jasmine Mooney, 35, who has been detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. Photo by Facebook

Family and friends of a Vancouver entrepreneur are demanding answers after she was unexpectedly detained by U.S. immigration officials while attempting to cross the border with a job offer and visa paperwork in hand.

Jasmine Mooney, a 35-year-old business consultant and co-founder of a drink brand, has been detained for 10 days under what her supporters describe as “inhumane conditions,” with no clear explanation of why U.S. Customs and Border Protection arrested her.

“I haven’t been able to sleep thinking about what my daughter is being put through. We treat cattle better than this in Canada,” Mooney’s mother, Alexis Eagles, said on Thursday.

Eagles, who said she found out about Mooney’s detention through a family friend, noted that her daughter had been working in the U.S. but was detained at the San Ysidro U.S.-Mexico border crossing near San Diego, Calif., on March 3.

Eagles said an immigration lawyer was finally able to reach Mooney late Thursday, but despite having no criminal record and facing no charges, Mooney remains in custody with no clear timeline for release.

“We have no issue with her being denied entry, we have no issue with her initially being detained. But we have a huge issue with the inhumane treatment she is receiving and that she knows nothing, has not been charged and has not been able to speak with us directly,” her mother said.

“It’s been 11 days, just release her. It doesn’t make sense to spend taxpayer dollars to continue to detain her when she’s not a criminal.”

Eagles said the family has received an update from a third-party that Mooney may have a tentative release date of March 24, which — if true — remains “still too far away.”

“By then, she’ll have been in custody for three weeks,” Eagles said. “That’s twice as long as she’s been there already. And so we want to get her home as soon as possible.”

Mooney was detained by border officials while trying to enter the U.S., as she had previously done successfully when applying for a Trade NAFTA, or TN, work visa.

After spending three nights in detention at the world’s busiest land border, Eagles said her daughter was transferred to a facility in San Diego and then to the San Luis Regional Detention Center south of Yuma, Arizona, where she has since been sleeping on the floor of a cell alongside nearly 30 other women.

Eagles said that each time her daughter was transferred, she was handcuffed and in chains.

Handout photo of Jasmine Mooney, 35, who has been detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, with her mother, Alexis Eagles.

From detention, Mooney spoke with ABC News 10 on Wednesday, describing the freezing conditions and overcrowding at the facility.

“I was put in a cell, and I had to sleep on a mat with no blanket, no pillow, with an aluminum foil wrapped over my body like a dead body for 2½ days,” she told a reporter.

As her detention continues, Mooney remains confined to a concrete cell with no natural light, no mats, no blankets, and minimal bathroom facilities.

“Every single guard that sees me is like ‘What are you doing here? I don’t understand — you’re Canadian. How are you here?’” she told ABC News.

Mooney had been working in Los Angeles with a health drink company under a TN visa since the spring of 2024, which was later revoked. She told her mother that she went to the border with a new job offer and the necessary visa paperwork to secure a new visa.

The visa allows Canadians and Mexicans to work in the U.S. for a limited time in certain, high-demand jobs.

Her first visa was granted at the San Ysidro crossing in the spring of 2024 after meeting with a Los Angeles lawyer. She hoped to follow the same process this time in March.

In the interview with ABC News 10, Mooney explained that a U.S. border officer revoked her first visa in November — months after it was granted — when she tried to return to L.A. for work after a visit home to Vancouver.

“She had a valid three-year TN visa, but when she went back to the States, she was told she was not welcome anymore,” Eagles said, noting that no official reason was given for the reversal of the visa’s authorization.

The officer informed Mooney that she would need to go to a U.S. consulate to reapply for legal status to work in the country.

When her daughter attempted to apply for another work visa at the San Diego border crossing this month, Eagles said, “all hell broke loose.”

“She had all the paperwork and everything. It just doesn’t make sense,” the mother added.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Mooney was detained on March 3 “for not having legal documentation to be in the United States.”

Mooney was processed in accordance with President Donald Trump’s executive order on border security dated Jan. 21, said spokeswoman Sandra Grisolia in an emailed statement. “All aliens in violation of U.S. immigration law may be subject to arrest, detention and, if found removable by final order, removal from the U.S., regardless of nationality.”

San Diego immigration lawyer Andrew Nietor said Thursday that Mooney’s case is not an isolated incident.

Since Donald Trump became U.S. president and began implementing stricter immigration policies in late January, Nietor said he has noticed an increase in cases of non-U.S. citizens being detained by immigration authorities.

“One or two months ago, if CBP officers found an issue with a Canadian’s work visa, the typical route taken is revoking the visa and ordering that person to leave the country,” said Nietor. “To detain someone like this would have been considered extreme not long ago, but’s it happening much more frequently nowadays.”

Nietor noted that while there is no limit on how long U.S. immigration authorities can detain a non-U.S. citizen, individuals have the legal right to talk to a lawyer while in detention.

Mooney’s associate, Chicago-based BJ McCaslin, said he hopes the detainment was the result of a mistake or misunderstanding, stressing that Mooney is not doing anything illegal. The pair had plans to meet at a health product expo in Anaheim, Calif.

“She’s definitely not criminal,” McCaslin said. “She’s coming to a health-food product exposition. She’s an upstanding person who is very well-respected in our industry.”

McCaslin has been in contact with Mooney through a messaging app designed for detainees, allowing them to communicate with people outside the facility. In her messages, Mooney described the whole process as “the most inhumane.”

In one message, she explained that about 30 women were crammed together on mats in a concrete cell, with inedible food and bright fluorescent lights “shining on you all day and night.” She added, “I am going to be a voice for the women in here because what is happening is not OK.”

Mooney has a background in the health food industry and hospitality. She was featured in B.C. Business magazine in 2019 for her contributions to the industry. According to the profile, she moved from Yukon to Vancouver in 2008 to study at BCIT, later attending acting school, before transitioning into owning and operating a bar.

In a statement, Global Affairs Canada said consular officials are in contact with local authorities to gather additional information and provide consular assistance.

“Every country or territory decides who can enter or exit through its borders. The Government of Canada cannot intervene on behalf of Canadian citizens with regard to the entry and exit requirements of another country,” the statement read.

“Due to privacy considerations, no further information can be disclosed.”