Canadian actor and entrepreneur Jasmine Mooney was detained by U.S. immigration authorities for nearly two weeks after attempting to enter the country with an incomplete work visa application.
Mooney, who appeared in an American Pie sequel and co-founded the beverage company Holy! Water, was detained on March 3 at the San Ysidro border crossing between Mexico and San Diego, California.
The 35-year-old Canadian citizen had previously held a three-year US work visa, but it was revoked in November while she was traveling from Vancouver to Los Angeles.
Mooney later attempted to secure a new work visa at the San Ysidro crossing, where she said she was questioned extensively before being detained.
According to Mooney, officials told her that her visa had not been “properly processed.” She also said an officer raised concerns about her working for a US company that used hemp as an ingredient in its products.
Mooney told the Guardian that she had previously traveled between Canada and California multiple times for work without encountering similar problems.
Her mother, Alexis Eagles, said Mooney arrived at the border with an incomplete work visa application and expected officials would either send her back to Canada or tell her how to correct the paperwork.
Instead, US Customs and Border Protection officers detained her.
Mooney had not been charged with a crime and had no prior criminal record, according to the Guardian.
She initially spent three nights in a detention center before being transferred with roughly 30 other detainees to a facility in San Luis, Arizona.
Eagles alleged that her daughter was placed in chains during transfers and housed under difficult conditions.
“They are housed together in a single concrete cell with no natural light, fluorescent lights that are never turned off, no mats, no blankets, and limited bathroom facilities,” Eagles said.
Mooney similarly described the conditions as “inhumane” during an interview with ABC 10 while she remained in detention.
“I have never in my life seen anything so inhumane,” Mooney said.
She said that at one point she was forced to sleep on a mat without a blanket or pillow and used an aluminum foil covering to keep herself warm for approximately two and a half days.
Mooney said even some guards appeared confused about why a Canadian citizen with her circumstances was being held.
“Every single guard that sees me is like, ‘What are you doing here? I don’t understand. You’re Canadian. How are you here?’” she recalled.
Mooney previously worked in Canada’s hospitality industry before pursuing acting and entrepreneurship. She moved from the Yukon to Vancouver in 2008 to attend the British Columbia Institute of Technology before attending acting school and later owning and operating a bar, per the Guardian.
Her mother said Mooney had been living in Los Angeles before her previous US work visa was revoked following a trip to Canada.
It was not immediately clear why that visa was revoked. Mooney said she returned to the San Ysidro crossing because she had previously obtained a visa there with assistance from a Los Angeles attorney.
After nearly two weeks in US immigration custody, Mooney was released and returned to Canada, landing at Vancouver International Airport shortly after midnight on a Saturday morning.
“I’m still, to be honest, really processing everything,” Mooney told reporters after arriving home.
She added that she had not slept properly or eaten normal food in some time and was still trying to process the experience.
Mooney later compared the ordeal to “escaping a deeply disturbing psychological experiment” while thanking supporters who had reached out following her release.
