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A Canadian mother and daughter who have spent the last two weeks detained at an immigration facility in Texas heard they will get to go home Wednesday, after a judge granted bond on Tuesday.
“I felt relief and fear because of the amount [of the bond],” said Tania Warner in a call with CBC News from a detention facility in Dilley, Texas, shortly after the hearing where she and her seven-year-old daughter, Ayla Lucas, were granted bond.
“We did post bond, but it was touch and go,” Warner said.
She said the judge decided they are not a flight risk. Warner said her immigration lawyer was able to argue that she had filed all the necessary documents and had been given approval by the federal government to legally extend their stay in the United States.
“This means my court case goes from [a] detained court case to a not-detained court case,” said Tania.
They now have several hearings to determine if they can stay in the U.S., or if they will be deported.
Her husband, Edward Warner, now has to secure money to pay the bond, which was set at $9,500 US.
“I’m scrambling to get the funds,” said Edward to CBC News via text message.
The Warner family has been living in Kingsville, Texas for the last four-and-a-half years.
Tania Warner and daughter Ayla were taken into custody on March 14 at a state border patrol checkpoint in Sarita, Texas, while on their way home from a baby shower.
“It was a really wonderful day that turned into the worst day of our lives,” said Warner.
“I was doing my due diligence, had my ID ready.”
She said they have been through similar checkpoints many times before without issue, and did not expect to be detained.
Warner, who is originally from Penticton, B.C., was going through the process to get a green card, which required her to spend thousands of dollars and undergo a criminal record check, but her husband says she kept her immigration paperwork up to date.
Warner and Ayla were first held in a processing centre in McAllen, Texas, but were later transferred to an immigrant detention centre for families in the state.
Warner said it was traumatizing to have the ribbons cut out of her daughter’s hair and to change out of the dresses they were wearing to put on state-issued clothing, other children were brought to the McAllen centre in handcuffs.
