Jasmine Mooney poses for a selfie with mom Alexis Eagles to the right, with a dateless handout image.Alexis Eagles/Canadian media
A Canadian woman who was detained by a US immigration officer for nearly two weeks has returned to her hometown, her mother confirmed.
Alexis Eagles said his daughter, Jasmine Mooney, landed at Vancouver International Airport around midnight on Saturday and returned to her city home.
The Eagles said she was at the airport to say hello to her 35-year-old daughter.
The Eagles previously said they had been under the control of US immigrant staff since Mooney was denied a visa when he tried to enter California from Mexico.
In a Facebook post last week, the Eagles said Mooney was taken into custody at the San Isidro border intersection near San Diego and later moved to Arizona’s San Luis Regional Detention Center.
So, the Eagles said Mooney was placed in “inhuman” conditions in the cell, which holds 30 people with limited bathroom facilities.
“They are housed together in a single concrete cell with no natural light, no fluorescent lights, mats and no blankets,” Eagles said in the post.
The Eagles said Mooney was not a criminal and there was no reason for her deportation.
A statement from the US immigration and customs enforcement agency said last week that Mooney was detained for not having legal documents in the country.
The agency said she was dealt with President Donald Trump’s executive order, which exposed “all foreigners who violate U.S. immigration laws” to the possibility of arrest.
On Thursday, BC Prime Minister David Ebby said he urged the Canadian government to do everything possible through diplomatic channels to ensure her return.
Eby didn’t know the details of the incident, but said it reinforced Canadians’ fears about their southern neighbors due to current rancor in US-Canadian relations.
“The nature of our relationships is so difficult now that this case makes us all wonder. What about relatives who work in America?” Eby said.
The Eagles said they had already decided in response to the Trump administration’s actions that they would not “travel to the state for a foreseeable future,” but the daughter’s ordeal “hardened” her way of thinking.
