Canadian woman held with daughter by ICE is released after nearly three weeks of detention | Canada

A Canadian woman and her seven-year-old daughter, who were held by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at a notorious detention center for nearly three weeks, were released Thursday evening after posting $9,500 bail.

Originally from British Columbia, Tania Warner and her daughter Ayla Luca are Canadian citizens. Warner moved to the United States in 2021 when she married US citizen Edward Warner. “I’m so glad my family was home…it was a stormy day,” Edward Warner said.

Tania Warner told CBC News after her release that although she was fitted with an ankle monitor, the judge ruled that she and Ayla were not a flight risk. He said his immigration attorney was able to argue that his documents were submitted correctly and that he was legally allowed to extend his stay in the United States.

The pair will now face a series of hearings to see whether they can stay in the US or be deported. He and his family maintained that all their immigration paperwork was current and that they were arbitrarily detained.

Warner and her daughter were first detained by ICE on March 14. The family lives in Kingsville, Texas, and was on their way home from a baby shower in Raymondville when they were stopped at a checkpoint in Sarita. The couple was captured by ICE agents to have their fingerprints taken but did not return afterward.

After they were imprisoned Edward Warner said: Vancouver Sun He said ICE officials told him “his visa had expired,” but he gave the newspaper a copy of the U.S. “work authorization” card issued to his wife last year, which had an expiration date of June 8, 2030.

Although initially held at the Rio Grande Valley central processing center in McAllen, Texas, Warner and her autistic daughter were moved to the Dilley immigration processing center in south Texas on March 20.

While at Dilley, Warner told the Guardian that the treatment of her and her daughter had been “appalling” from the start. He said beds were not provided at Rio Grande and detainees slept on mats with the lights on 24 hours a day.

Having a bed to sleep on in Dilley provided some comfort. But he said there was no privacy and ICE agents constantly pressured him to “self-deport.” “They are abusive and their tactics are to threaten you and be so inhospitable that you get yourself deported,” Warner said.

He said he didn’t want to have to leave the United States. “My life is here with my husband. I love him. I don’t want to leave. But at the same time, I have a really ugly taste in my mouth for the United States,” she said.

Asked about their cases the week they were detained, Global Affairs Canada, the federal ministry responsible for consular services and diplomatic relations, said it was “aware of numerous cases of Canadians currently or previously detained in immigration-related detention in the United States.”

“Consular officials advocate for Canadian citizens abroad and raise concerns about justified and serious complaints of mistreatment or discrimination to local authorities, but cannot exempt Canadians from local legal processes,” a spokesperson said. “For confidentiality reasons, no further information can be released.”

Reached for comment on March 20, ICE asked for more information about Warners’ case. The Guardian reported this information, but nearly two weeks later ICE had not responded.

Global Affairs and ICE were contacted again for comment regarding the pair’s release.