Canadian held in the United States released

«We learned about half an hour ago that Jasmine was going to be transferred from the Arizona detention center to the detention center in Tijuana [Mexico] and that she would be released,» stated Stephen Mooney to CBC News on Thursday afternoon.

Jasmine Mooney, co-founder of the dietary drink brand “Holy! Water,” moved to Los Angeles in the summer of 2024, with a three-year work visa. She obtained this document by entering the United States through Mexico, according to Global News.

After a recent visit to Canada in November, Mooney had his visa revoked and received a ban on entering the United States, according to the account of Alexis Eagles, the detainee’s mother.

Mooney returned to the United States to submit a new visa application in San Diego. When the Canadian arrived at this border between the United States and Mexico on March 3, she was separated from other travelers by immigration agents.

«I was renewing my work visa application. Without any warning, I was arrested by the ICE», Mooney told an ABC News reporter from the detention center where she is being held.

«They isolated her and this lasted for hours in a center located just at the border, then two days of detention in Tijuana, then three days in San Diego, and now in Arizona», said Stephan Mooney to CBC News.

Jasmine Mooney lamented the conditions of the private detention center in San Luis, Arizona. She described them as “inhumane”: «We were chained for 24 hours. […] I was put in a cell and had to sleep on a mattress without a blanket or pillow, with a sheet of aluminum around my body, like a dead body, for two and a half days,» Jasmine Mooney told ABC News.

The Canadian highlighted that she was surrounded by other women who had been imprisoned for weeks, who had received no information about their cases.

It was thanks to a post by her mother on Facebook, which quickly went viral, that the arrest of Mooney became known to the general public. An investigative journalist from San Diego later spread the story.

After being approached by Ms. Mooney, Global Affairs Canada stated that it has no power over the entry and exit requirements of another country. However, the ministry is seeking “additional information” and plans to “provide consular assistance,” reports John Babcock, spokesperson for the organization.

The Premier of British Columbia, David Eby, has called on the federal government to take diplomatic action so that Jasmine Mooney can return home.

Stephen Mooney stated that the family has not been able to establish direct communication with the detainee. It took him three days to find out where she was after her transfer from the San Diego detention center. However, he added that she has been able to be contacted by family members in the United States. Fortunately, it can now be confirmed that she is back in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.