Jasmine Mooney, 35, has been detained in inhumane conditions since March 3 but could be released this weekend.
A B.C. woman, who was detained at the U.S. border over an incomplete work visa and detained for more than a week in several holding cells, will be transferred back to San Ysidro near San Diego, her mother said Friday.
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Her family is anxious and sleep-deprived given the tensions between the U.S. and Canada and the lack of communication with U.S. officials.
Mom Alexis Eagles, who lives in Abbotsford, said Friday morning that she’s still holding her breath but views the decision to transfer her daughter from Arizona back to the facility in San Ysidro as “a good step.”
“We have confirmed with officials that we will pay for her flight,” she said Friday morning, adding that the transfer could be a sign she might get a flight out of San Diego.
Eagles stressed, however, that the family still has no confirmation that she will be sent home soon and they haven’t been told why she is being transferred back to San Diego.
“We won’t know anything until just before she boards a flight,” she said, adding the family plans not to make her departure time public to avoid a crowd at the airport.
“This has been a draining and very stressful experience for her … she will be exhausted.”
Mooney had been working in the U.S. but was detained at the San Ysidro U.S.-Mexico border crossing near San Diego, Calif., on March 3.
After spending three nights in detention at San Ysidro, Mooney was transferred to a facility in San Diego then to the San Luis Regional Detention Center south of Yuma, Arizona, where she has since been sleeping on the floor of a cell alongside nearly 30 other women.
Her mom said that each time her daughter was transferred, she was handcuffed and in chains.
Eagles told Postmedia Thursday that an immigration lawyer was finally able to reach Mooney, but despite having no criminal record and facing no charges, Mooney remains in custody with no clear timeline for release.
However, she is now “cautiously optimistic” they won’t have to wait long. “We believe she will come home this weekend sometime,” Eagles said Friday.
From detention, Mooney spoke with ABC News 10 on Wednesday, describing the freezing conditions and overcrowding at the facility.
“I was put in a cell, and I had to sleep on a mat with no blanket, no pillow, with an aluminum foil wrapped over my body like a dead body for 2½ days,” she told a reporter.
“I was put in a cell, and I had to sleep on a mat with no blanket, no pillow, with an aluminum foil wrapped over my body like a dead body for 2½ days,” she told a reporter.
Mooney had been working in Los Angeles with a health drink company under a Trade NAFTA visa since the spring of 2024, which was later revoked. She told her mother that she went to the border with a new job offer and the necessary visa paperwork to secure a new visa.
The visa allows Canadians and Mexicans to work in the U.S. for a limited time in certain, high-demand jobs.
Her first visa was granted at the San Ysidro crossing in the spring of 2024 after consulting with a Los Angeles immigration lawyer. She had hoped to follow the same process this time in March, just before she was detained.
In the interview with ABC News 10, Mooney explained that a U.S. border officer revoked her first visa in November — months after it was granted — when she tried to return to L.A. for work after a visit home to Vancouver.
“She had a valid three-year TN visa, but when she went back to the States, she was told she was not welcome anymore,” Eagles said, noting that no official reason was given for the reversal of the visa’s authorization.
The officer informed Mooney that she would need to go to a U.S. consulate to reapply for legal status to work in the country.
When her daughter attempted to apply for another work visa at the San Diego border crossing this month, Eagles said, “all hell broke loose.”
“She had all the paperwork and everything. It just doesn’t make sense,” the mother added.
Mooney had been working in Los Angeles with a health drink company under a Trade NAFTA visa since the spring of 2024, which was later revoked. She told her mother that she went to the border with a new job offer and the necessary visa paperwork to secure a new visa.
The visa allows Canadians and Mexicans to work in the U.S. for a limited time in certain, high-demand jobs.
Her first visa was granted at the San Ysidro crossing in the spring of 2024 after consulting with a Los Angeles immigration lawyer. She had hoped to follow the same process this time in March, just before she was detained.
In the interview with ABC News 10, Mooney explained that a U.S. border officer revoked her first visa in November — months after it was granted — when she tried to return to L.A. for work after a visit home to Vancouver.
“She had a valid three-year TN visa, but when she went back to the States, she was told she was not welcome anymore,” Eagles said, noting that no official reason was given for the reversal of the visa’s authorization.
The officer informed Mooney that she would need to go to a U.S. consulate to reapply for legal status to work in the country.
When her daughter attempted to apply for another work visa at the San Diego border crossing this month, Eagles said, “all hell broke loose.”
“She had all the paperwork and everything. It just doesn’t make sense,” the mother added.
Mooney had been working in Los Angeles with a health drink company under a Trade NAFTA visa since the spring of 2024, which was later revoked. She told her mother that she went to the border with a new job offer and the necessary visa paperwork to secure a new visa.
The visa allows Canadians and Mexicans to work in the U.S. for a limited time in certain, high-demand jobs.
Her first visa was granted at the San Ysidro crossing in the spring of 2024 after consulting with a Los Angeles immigration lawyer. She had hoped to follow the same process this time in March, just before she was detained.
In the interview with ABC News 10, Mooney explained that a U.S. border officer revoked her first visa in November — months after it was granted — when she tried to return to L.A. for work after a visit home to Vancouver.
“She had a valid three-year TN visa, but when she went back to the States, she was told she was not welcome anymore,” Eagles said, noting that no official reason was given for the reversal of the visa’s authorization.
The officer informed Mooney that she would need to go to a U.S. consulate to reapply for legal status to work in the country.
When her daughter attempted to apply for another work visa at the San Diego border crossing this month, Eagles said, “all hell broke loose.”
“She had all the paperwork and everything. It just doesn’t make sense,” the mother added.
In the interview with ABC News 10, Mooney explained that a U.S. border officer revoked her first visa in November — months after it was granted — when she tried to return to L.A. for work after a visit home to Vancouver.
“She had a valid three-year TN visa, but when she went back to the States, she was told she was not welcome anymore,” Eagles said, noting that no official reason was given for the reversal of the visa’s authorization.
The officer informed Mooney that she would need to go to a U.S. consulate to reapply for legal status to work in the country.
When her daughter attempted to apply for another work visa at the San Diego border crossing this month, Eagles said, “all hell broke loose.”
“She had all the paperwork and everything. It just doesn’t make sense,” the mother added.
With files from Sarah Grochowski, David Carrigg and Cheryl Chan