A Canadian entrepreneur and actress in the American Pie movie franchise, Jasmine Mooney, was held for almost two weeks in what she described as inhumane conditions by U.S. border authorities due to an incomplete visa application. Mooney, also a co-founder of the beverage brand Holy! Water, was detained on March 3 in San Diego, California.
In November, Mooney’s work visa for the U.S. was supposedly revoked as she traveled from Vancouver to Los Angeles; she was trying to file a new application at the time of her detention. She commented in an interview with ABC 10 News from the Arizona immigration detention center that every guard she encountered questioned why she was there, as she is Canadian.
The detention occurred at the San Ysidro border crossing between Tijuana, Mexico, and San Diego, the world’s busiest land border crossing. Mooney’s mother, Alexis Eagles, said her daughter was detained with an incomplete work visa application. Instead of sending Mooney back to Canada or advising her to complete her application, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers arrested her.
According to Eagles, during her custody, Mooney was transferred along with about 30 other people to a facility in San Luis, Arizona, where they were kept in a large concrete cell with no natural light, fluorescent lights that were always on, limited bathroom facilities, and no mat or blanket, forcing Mooney to wrap herself in aluminum foil for warmth. She remained in chains for each transfer.
Mooney expressed her shock at the inhumane conditions she experienced while in the private detention facility in San Luis, Arizona. She has no criminal record and had not been charged with any crime.
Mooney was released over the weekend and returned to Vancouver International Airport shortly after midnight on Saturday. She reported that she is still processing her experience and has not yet fully recovered from her ordeal.
ABC 10 News reported on her detention, and The Guardian attempted to contact U.S. Customs and Border Protection for comment.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/18/canadian-actor-jasmine-mooney-detained-mexico-border
