A former American Pie actress has shared her harrowing experience after being held by ICE during her visa application process.
Jasmine Mooney, the Canadian actress and entrepreneur known for her role in American Pie Presents: The Book of Love in 2009, opened up about being detained despite not facing any criminal charges.
She revealed that she was apprehended by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at the southern border while attempting to secure a new visa.
On March 3, she was apprehended at the San Ysidro border, located between Mexico and San Diego. After discovering in November of the previous year that her three-year TN work visa had been canceled while attempting to board a flight from Vancouver to Los Angeles, she traveled to the border crossing earlier this month.
Following her lawyer’s guidance, she sought to obtain a new visa at San Ysidro, the same place where she had received her first work visa, armed with a new job offer and all the necessary visa documentation.
Jasmine Mooney said she has never seen anything so ‘inhumane’ (Instagram/jasminemooney)
In an interview with KGTV, Mooney shared that she entered the U.S. from Mexico, where border officials initially suggested she visit a U.S. consulate to apply for legal work status. However, she was denied re-entry into Mexico and subsequently detained.
Speaking from the San Luis Regional Detention Center in Arizona, she described her experience: “Every guard who sees me asks, ‘What are you doing here? I don’t get it — you’re Canadian. How are you here?’”
She went on to say, “I’ve never seen anything so cruel in my life.”
Mooney also highlighted the poor conditions she endured during her detention.
She explained, “I was placed in a cell and had to sleep on a mat with no blanket, no pillow, just aluminum foil covering me like a dead body for two and a half days.”
Jasmine’s father said the political pressure has helped ensure his daughter’s release(David Dee Delgado/Getty Images)
Mooney also voiced concerns about the food quality provided to her since her detention. However, a spokesperson for the private company that operates the detention center has refuted her claims.
Brian Todd, a representative for the company, stated that the facility offers “nutritious” meals to inmates on a daily basis.
Additionally, Mooney revealed that she, along with 30 other women, was transferred to Arizona in the middle of the night.
She further explained, “We were awake for 24 hours, wrapped in chains.”
Despite this, Mooney has not been charged with any crime and is anticipated to be released today, March 14, after spending 11 days in custody.
Her father also spoke out about his daughter’s detention, believing that public pressure played a role in her impending release.
In an interview with CBS, he said, “Jasmine’s a tough girl, but what she’s gone through… no one should endure that.”
