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Family and friends are expressing fears for a Penticton, B.C., woman and her daughter who have been detained by U.S. authorities in Texas and are currently in an immigration holding facility.
Tania Warner — a 47-year-old who family say is legally in the U.S. on a worker’s visa — and daughter Ayla Lucas were stopped at a U.S. border checkpoint on their way back from a baby shower.
Ayla, 7, has autism, leading to fears from loved ones that border detention could be disturbing for her.
Husband Edward Warner lives with Tania and Ayla in Kingsville, Texas. The two were on their way back from a baby shower in Raymondville on Saturday, and had to stop at a mandatory border checkpoint in Sarita, Texas.
It was something they had done before without any issues at the checkpoint, which is located inside the U.S. and not at an international border.
But this time, Edward says, his wife and stepdaughter were detained. They are among dozens of Canadians who have been detained by U.S. immigration authorities, whose tactics as part of an ongoing immigration crackdown across the U.S. have faced criticism over alleged human rights abuses.
“A little freaked out. It’s definitely traumatizing for a seven-year-old,” Edward told CBC News on Tuesday. “Very not happy being there, I wouldn’t be either.
“My wife’s having anxiety attacks and all sorts of problems,” he added.
Tania and Ayla were held at the Ursula detention centre — the largest U.S. Customs and Border Protection detention centre — for six days. They have since been moved to the Dilley facility and are still together, said family friend Mario Muñoz, whose baby shower the two were returning from.
Muñoz said the Dilley Immigration Processing Center is considered more family-friendly and he hopes communication with Tania and Ayla will be easier.
“Our hope now is that they will be able to get them the paperwork, to work on getting them out,” said Muñoz.
CBC News reached out to U.S. federal authorities for this story, but did not immediately hear back before publication.
A spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada said it was aware of “multiple cases of Canadians currently or previously in immigration-related detention in the U.S.” and consular officials would provide assistance as required by international law.
“Consular officials advocate for Canadian citizens abroad and raise concerns about justified and serious complaints of ill-treatment or discrimination with the local authorities but cannot exempt Canadians from local legal processes,” the spokesperson wrote.
“Due to privacy considerations, no further information can be disclosed.”
‘System is just designed to be cruel’
Tania has been living in the U.S. for about five years, Muñoz told CBC News.
He said Tania and Ayla initially moved to Texas on a visitor visa to be with Edward. About three years ago, Tania and Edward got married and she later obtained a worker’s visa.
“I know she’s got legal working status … so we were completely caught off guard by them taking her in,” said Muñoz.
Democratic Texas Congressman Vicente Gonzalez said in a statement that his office is in contact with the Warner family. Gonzalez said Tania has a valid work permit and should not be in detention, and is calling for her and Ayla’s immediate release.
“We must bring them home and reunite yet another family being ripped apart by this Administration’s rogue immigration enforcement operations,” said Gonzalez.
Muñoz said just hours before their detainment on Saturday, Ayla had been playing with his niece and goddaughter at the baby shower.
“To go from having a great day to being literally in jail, like locked up, detained — for a seven-year-old, any seven-year-old, that’s insane,” he said.
Muñoz said U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in the region had been “raiding” work camps and neighbourhoods and detaining people “left and right,” but this was the first person he was connected to directly that was being detained.
The agency, which U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has said is targeting violent criminals as part of a deportation push, has faced criticism on multiple fronts.
That includes non-profits expressing concerns over conditions at detention facilities and ICE’s arresting tactics themselves.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has become a central tool in U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to deport millions of undocumented migrants, but as CBC’s Jonathan Montpetit explains, that’s not what the agency was originally designed to do.
The criticism was only heightened during a recent immigration crackdown in Minnesota, in which federal agents fatally shot two American citizens, leading to widespread protests over ICE actions.
Muñoz and Edward both said they had reached out to their local congressperson in Texas for help — but Tania needs to provide her signature for assistance to be rendered, which is difficult when she’s in detention.
“To do this to a child is just ridiculous, and to be as unhelpful as they are … the system is just designed to be cruel to people right now, and they don’t want to do anything to make it better,” Muñoz said.
