2 months ago
A Canadian female who has been imprisoned pinch her seven-year-old daughter by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has cautioned different immigrants that they are astatine consequence of detention, moreover if they travel nan correct ineligible process – and warned them to support retired of show for arsenic agelong arsenic Donald Trump is president.
“Don’t spell anyplace adjacent a checkpoint, and if your papers are successful processing, conscionable laic low. Trump meant what he said – he is trying to get free of everyone, whether they are bully aliases bad,” said Tania Warner, 47, who is presently held pinch her autistic daughter, Ayla, astatine nan Dilley migration processing halfway successful southbound Texas.
“The group successful present are not criminals … They’ve had their dignity and their state stripped from them because they person their papers processing,” she told nan Guardian. “You shouldn’t beryllium putting children, families successful jail. It’s unjust.”
The brace moved from British Columbia to Kingsville, Texas, successful 2021 erstwhile Warner joined Edward Warner, who is simply a US citizen.
The family was driving location from a babe ablution successful Raymondville, Texas, connected 14 March erstwhile they were stopped astatine a separator patrol checkpoint successful Sarita. Tania Warner and her girl were taken successful by ICE agents to beryllium fingerprinted, and neither returned.
They were primitively held astatine Rio Grande Valley cardinal processing halfway successful McAllen, Texas, but were moved early connected Friday to Dilley – which was primitively opened nether Barack Obama but later shuttered during nan management of Joe Biden. It reopened successful early 2025 to clasp detained families and has been heavy criticized for inhumane conditions.
Warner described nan curen of her and her girl arsenic “horrific” from nan start. After being held for astir 5 and a half hours astatine nan checkpoint, they were sent to nan first facility, wherever “very azygous personification … was handcuffed – including children”, she said.
There, they slept connected nan level connected 2in mats and nan lights were connected 24 hours a day. Agents would not fto Warner telephone a lawyer, and perpetually pressured her to motion documents agreeing to “self-deport”.
“They’re abusive, and their strategies are to frighten you and to beryllium truthful inhospitable that you deport yourself,” Warner said. She and her family opportunity she has made it clear they person each nan correct documents to unrecorded and activity successful nan US, but that has been ignored.
“My life is present pinch my husband. I emotion him. I don’t want to leave. But astatine nan aforesaid time, I’ve gotten a really disfigured sensation successful my rima for nan United States,” she said.
Throughout nan ordeal, Ayala has put connected a brave face, befriending different children who besides “just want to spell home”, said Warner. But she has besides developed a persistent full-body rash, for which she has been fixed Benadryl.
“I deliberation she’s internalizing a lot,” she said.
Conditions astatine Dilly are marginally better, Warner said – inmates person entree to windows and tin sometimes spell outdoors – but they person nary privateness and are watched information nan timepiece by guards.
The family’s lawyer is moving to get nan brace released connected costs of a $15,000 bond.
Amelia Boultbee, a personnel of nan legislative assembly of British Columbia, wherever Tania Warner is primitively from, said she is urgently lobbying Canada’s national authorities to thief get Warner and her girl released.
“We’re exploring negotiated and ineligible avenues to person these Canadians released from detention, and I’m hoping that we return a beardown guidelines against these forbidden and unethical detentions by ICE,” she said.
But nan people of action for Canadian authorities is unclear arsenic location are fewer precedents of cases of Canadian families held successful US detention, Boultbee said.
“There isn’t a clear template to follow, diplomatically aliases legally. So we’re exploring nan champion measurement … to advocator for this family and get them retired of detention,” she said.
Global Affairs Canada, nan national ministry that handles consular services and negotiated relations, said connected Thursday it was “aware of aggregate cases of Canadians presently aliases antecedently successful immigration-related detention successful nan US”.
“Consular officials advocator for Canadian citizens overseas and raise concerns astir justified and superior complaints of ill-treatment aliases favoritism pinch nan section authorities but cannot exempt Canadians from section ineligible processes,” a spokesperson said. “Due to privateness considerations, nary further accusation tin beryllium disclosed.”
Approached for remark connected 20 March, ICE asked for much accusation astir nan Warner’s case. The Guardian provided that information, but 4 days later ICE had still not replied.
