A Canadian who had appeared in an “American Pie” film was detained for several days by US immigration officials while he was trying to cross the Mexico border in the United States to renew his work visa, according to his mother. The woman’s father expects her daughter to be able to return to Canada on Friday.
Jasmine Mooney, a 35 -year -old business consultant who appeared in several television and cinema roles, including “American Pie presents: The Book of Love” in 2009, was detained by American immigration and customs application on March 3, her mother Alexis Eagles said on Wednesday on Facebook. Mooney tried to cross the border with his visa documents and a job offer from a company in the United States
Mooney crossed the border to request a temporary visa known as the TN visa, which she had previously obtained successfully, according to Canadian Broadcast Global News. The TN visa is an unchampa visa that allows Canadian and Mexican citizens to work in the United States in certain professional jobs under the North American free trade pact known as the American-Canal-Canada agreement.
Her visa was refused and she was detained at the San Ysidro border post in southern California for three nights, according to Eagles. She was then transferred to the Otay Mesa detention center in San Diego and held another three nights.
Carlos Moreno / Anadolu via Getty Images
On Sunday, a system of locally online detainees showed that Mooney had been released, according to Eagles, but 24 hours later, there was still no sign or communication from him, leaving his family and friends in a state of uncertainty and concern.
“We finally learned that around 30 people, including Jasmine, were forcibly removed from their cells at 3:00 am and transferred to the San Luis detention center in Arizona,” said Eagles on Facebook. “They are housed together in a single concrete cell without natural light, fluorescent lights that are never off, no carpets, no blankets and limited bathrooms.”
Mooney’s friend Brittany Kors told the Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail that the American customs and border protection agency suddenly informed Mooney of her denial of visa and she was detained because she was reserving a return flight to Canada.
“Without any warning on what was going to be sweat, I was literally taken”, Mooney told CTV News In a telephone interview with Arizona Detention Facility. “I feel like I was kidnapped.”
ICE said at the San Diego Kgtv station Mooney was detained on Thursday not to have legal documentation in the country. “All foreigners in violation of the American immigration law can be subject to arrest, detention and, if they are judged removable by final prescription, withdrawn from the United States, regardless of nationality,” a spokesperson for the ICE at the station.
Mooney’s father Stephen Mooney said in an interview with CBC radio that he expected that his daughter was brought to a detention center in Tijuana, Mexico, and his release. He expects her to return to Vancouver, British Columbia on Friday evening.
Susan Mooney
In a Facebook publication Eagles said on Thursday that she had bought a plane ticket for her daughter and waited for the ice to approve her. She also said that she was carefully optimistic that Mooney would be at home in the coming days.
Mooney’s mother said she was very concerned about her daughter’s living conditions in detention. She called the ICE treatment of her daughter “inhuman and deeply worrying”.
“Being detained is one thing, but there is no excuse for the way people are dealt with in detention or for expulsion delays,” she said. “They are not criminals, and they just want to go home.”
Dina Destin, spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada, told CBS News in a statement that they were aware of the detention of a Canadian in the United States and that consular officials are in contact with local authorities to collect information and provide consulate assistance.
“Each country or territory decides which can enter or exit through its borders. The Government of Canada cannot intervene on behalf of Canadian citizens with regard to the requirements of entry and exit from another country,” Destiny said in the press release.
Ahmad Mukhtar
