Mother decries ICE detention after release: ‘What the administration is doing is wrong and illegal’ | US news
KWhen Tania Warner and her seven-year-old daughter Ayla were released after nearly three weeks in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody, the Canadian mother’s joy at regaining her freedom was tempered by the knowledge of the many incarcerated families.
“They were wonderful people. I loved them so much and cried so much when I left that I wanted to take them all with me,” she said.
Warner and Ayla were held at two ICE facilities in South Texas alongside families from Venezuela, Egypt, El Salvador, Russia and many other countries.
Not all of them spoke English or even shared a common language, but the grueling experience of detention helped forge kinship across identities and languages, Warner said. “I felt camaraderie…we were all united by our experiences,” he said.
Immigration detainees “suffered tremendously,” Warner said, enduring months of imprisonment with no due process, a constant fear of being separated from their children, and no hope of freedom.
Like Warner, most had not committed a criminal offense but instead had run afoul of Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown that has affected tens of thousands of people. “They are just victims… What the hell? [US] “What the administration did is wrong and against the law,” he said.
Warner and Ayla were initially held at the Rio Grande valley central processing center in McAllen, Texas, before being transferred to the Dilley detention center on March 20.
Dilley was criticized for not providing proper health care and food to detained families. In February, the center reported two cases of measles. In late March, Democratic U.S. congressman Joaquin Castro said there was a two-year-old child in Dilley who was sick and was not getting the help he needed.
A report published this month by Human Rights First and RAICES explains: “Widespread abuses against families and children” in custody It found that more than 5,600 people, including toddlers and newborn babies, were incarcerated in Dilley between April 2025 and February 2026. It was revealed that families were regularly detained for months in violation of court limits, were pressured to give up their asylum claims, and were frequently threatened with separation. During his time at Dilley, Warner was under constant pressure from guards to “self-deport”.
Warner and her daughter are from British Columbia, but moved to Kingsville, Texas, when she married her American husband Edward in 2021.
On March 14, the family was returning home from a baby shower in Raymondville, Texas, when they were stopped at a border patrol checkpoint in Sarita. Warner and Ayla, who had recently been diagnosed with autism, were pulled aside to be fingerprinted and then taken into custody.
Warner claims that his documents are in order and that he can legally live and work in the United States until June 8, 2030. Warner provided the Guardian with a photo of his work permit card, which had an expiration date.
They were released on $9,500 bail on April 3 and are now grappling with the effects of their detention and looming fears about their status to remain in the country. The US is still trying to deport them and the family has to check in with ICE frequently. Warner must wear an ankle monitor and is not allowed to travel more than 75 miles from his home.
On April 16, he and Ayla will need to go to Harlingen, Texas, to meet with bond officers. To get there, they still have to go through an ICE checkpoint.
“I’m terrified, I don’t know if they’ll try to detain us again,” he said.
Warner said most of the families he encountered in detention were Latin American. He said parents who were professionals in their home countries worked at McDonald’s or construction jobs to support their children in the U.S. before being picked up by ICE.
A Russian family had sought asylum after the father faced mandatory military service to fight in Ukraine. The father, on the other hand, was against this conflict. “They are being punished now, they are in prison for this,” he said.
The Human Rights First and RAICES report found that conditions at Dilley were “unsafe and degrading, with inadequate access to food, water, personal hygiene and basic care harming children in particular”.
Both Warner and her daughter developed a persistent, red rash that she said was caused by harsh detergents used to clean detention uniforms: a single pair of sweatpants, a T-shirt and a sweater.
Warner recalled the facility smelling strongly of astringent bleach and cleaners.
“The chemicals they used damaged my daughter’s skin,” she said. He said Ayla did not fully understand the realities of detention and was often confused by their inability to act as they wished.
Reached for comment on March 20, ICE asked for more information about Warners’ case. The Guardian provided this information, but despite follow-ups, ICE did not respond for nearly three weeks.
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 detention in the United States” when asked about Warner and Ayla’s immediate post-detention status.
“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.”
When asked for comment on their release, Global Affairs said it had nothing further to add.
