Politics or poor paperwork? Vancouver entrepreneur in U.S. jail faces deportation battle

A Canadian entrepreneur says she felt like she was being kidnapped when she was taken into custody by U.S. immigration officials.

ABBOTSFORD, B.C. — A Vancouver entrepreneur has been transferred from one U.S. detainment centre to another after what she thought would be a routine visa application, prompting questions about the heavy-handed approach in the midst of a trade war.

CTV News reached Jasmine Mooney at an Arizona detention facility, where she says she’s sharing a room with dozens of women, with little water, food or basic comforts like blankets.

“I don’t understand anything that’s going on,” she said, speaking via a fellow detainee’s phone.

“I’ve been detained in different jails for 11 days now, and I haven’t been talked to by a single person.”

Mooney, who appeared on an American reality show last year when she was co-founder of a health drink company, says she was stunned when she went to the U.S.-Mexico border and presented a visa application to work in the country, as she had previously. She acknowledges that a previous visa had been cancelled, but didn’t think she’d have an issue applying with a new job offer.

“Without any warning about what was about to transpire, I was literally just taken,” she said. “I feel like I’ve been kidnapped, all my stuff was taken from me and I was put in a jail cell.”

At one point, Mooney said, someone told her that she “hadn’t done anything wrong,” but that her previous visa issues meant she should’ve applied at a U.S. consulate, rather than at the border, and she could face a five-year ban on re-entry.

Lawyer had warned Mooney about that crossing

Before she made the visa application, Mooney had consulted with a longtime American immigration lawyer who has often encouraged Canadians living in California to apply for visas via the Mexico crossing near San Diego — but advised against it this time.

“Nothing from talking to her made me concerned about her applying, the only thing that concerned me was on the southern border during the Trump administration,” said Len Saunders. “I thought it was a bad idea, but never in my mind would I have thought that she’d be taken into custody and put in formal deportation proceedings.”

Saunders is baffled that border officials would take such a heavy-handed approach given Mooney hasn’t been accused of any criminality, and suspects that she could be detained with little explanation for months before appearing in front of a judge.

“It seems like a complete overreach of the American government on somebody who should not be treated like this,” he said. “I’m appalled.”

Mom spoke up, the premier noticed

Mooney’s detainment hadn’t been public knowledge until her mother made a public Facebook post that went viral and an investigative reporter in San Diego took on the story.

“I haven’t spoken to Jasmine since before she left, I have not been able to get contact with her,” said Alexis Eagles, who spoke to CTV News at her home in Abbotsford.

“Ordinarily we would have kept this private – this is our family, it’s very personal – but we just aren’t getting any results and we’re very concerned about the living conditions that Jasmine is in right now."

Global Affairs Canada cited privacy concerns, but acknowledged that it’s aware of a Canadian in custody in Arizona and that “consular officials are in contact with local authorities to gather additional information and to provide consular assistance.”

However, a spokesperson also pointed out that “the government of Canada cannot intervene on behalf of Canadian citizens with regard to the entry and exit requirements of another country.”

CTV News asked the premier about Mooney’s situation. While he didn’t have many details on the case, he called it a “terrible story” and said his heart goes out to her family.

“It certainly reinforces the anxiety that many British Columbians have and many Canadians have about our relationship with the United States right now and the unpredictability of this administration and its actions,” said David Eby. “I am profoundly concerned about these kinds of actions that really violate the very idea that Canadians are safe in the United States when we visit.”

As her mother is inundated with support from Canadians aghast at Mooney’s situation, the health enthusiast is pleading for common sense to prevail.

“I don’t understand why I’m put in the system when I voluntarily said, ‘Yes, I’m going back to Canada, I’ll pay for my flight,’” said Mooney. “Now I’ve been in here for 11 days with zero answers and with everyone in here, it just seems like such a complete waste of resources and so many different levels.”