“I have never in my life seen anything so inhumane"

By: Conner Drigotas

Jasmine Mooney is a former actress who has traveled between the United States and her home in Canada for much of her adult life. She is no stranger to immigration requirements, so when she got a new job in the United States last month, she headed to the San Ysidro Port of Entry to apply for a new visa.

San Ysidro is the busiest entry spot in the nation with an average of 8 million crossings per year. But, unlike those deported for being in the country illegally or those in detention who have committed violent acts – Mooney willingly went to the San Ysidro Port of Entry as a peaceful applicant seeking to follow the process for gaining lawful permission to work in the United States. After having her visa revoked in November of last year over a processing problem and concerns about her employer selling hemp-based products, she chose San Ysidro on advice of counsel. She had no problems when she applied for a visa in that location before.

This time, however, Mooney was forcibly detained, subjected to “inhumane” conditions, and denied the opportunity to peacefully fly home on her own dime by a cadre of federal agents who instead shipped her “in chains” to an out-of-state detention center where she was held for nearly two weeks. 

The Black Box

The issue, it seems, was incomplete paperwork. A United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson told the Vancouver Sun that Mooney was detained on March 3 “for not having legal documentation to be in the United States,” the very issue she had traveled to San Ysidro to obtain.

Instead of sending her back to Canada (something Mooney offered to pay for herself), allowing her to return home back through Mexico, or providing direction on how to complete the visa paperwork to their satisfaction, agents at San Ysidro chose to escalate the situation, ordering that Jasmine instead be detained. 

“I was reapplying for my work visa and with no warning about what was about to happen I was taken by ICE,” Mooney said "They took me, they took all of my luggage. They took my phone, [and forced] my hands against the wall."

She claims there was no communication about why she was being detained. “No one told me anything. Not once,” she said, “Next thing you know, I’m taken. And for two weeks, I haven’t been told anything. Moved in different cells. Sleeping on cement, sleeping in different jail cells. Like, it’s just, nothing makes sense to me and I’m still trying to process the entire situation.”

She was first subjected to three nights in a local detention center then, along with around 30 other detainees, was awoken at 3 AM to be transferred. “They put you in chains,” she said. “That’s when I realized they are onboarding me into a real prison.”

That second location turned out to be the San Luis detention center in Arizona, where Jasmine experienced the life of a detainee. “They are housed together in a single concrete cell with no natural light, fluorescent lights that are never turned off, no mats, no blankets, and limited bathroom facilities.”

“I have never in my life seen anything so inhumane,” she said. “I was put in a cell, and I had to sleep on a mat with no blanket, no pillow, with an aluminum foil wrapped over my body like a dead body for two and a half days.”

On that third day, Mooney was finally given the opportunity to make a phone call and begin the process of extricating herself from American immigration officials.

“I called my best friend. Thank god I remembered her phone number.” Jasmine told NPR, “I was like, you need to call my lawyers. You need to call my family. You need to get a hold of anyone, any of our friends, that can help me in this situation.”

After nearly two weeks in custody, immigration officials arranged for her to be driven to San Diego, where she was put on a flight, which was privately paid for, to Vancouver, Canada, and returned home. 

Delegated Waste

Mooney’s situation reflects not just the waves of change in immigration policy under a new administration but also puts a spotlight on the perennial problem of force and theft by government officials. We know that violence and theft result in less happiness, harmony, and prosperity, but government agents “just doing their job” are often given permission and protection under the law when they engage in unjust and disrespectful acts. 

The justification for the initial detainment, the prolonged holding, and multiple transfers have been brushed off as being “in accordance with the 'Securing Our Borders' Executive Order dated January 21” by government spokespeople, leaving Jasmine, other visa seekers, and those of us left footing the bill, the taxpayers, with little in the way of clarity.

As Jasmine’s mother pointed out, “It doesn’t make sense to spend taxpayer dollars to continue to detain her when she’s not a criminal,” especially when she peacefully offered to fly herself in the beginning of the issue.

That sentiment was echoed by Leonard D.M. Saunders, Jasmine’s immigration attorney: “Why would they waste their time on a Canadian citizen who is at the border trying to do everything right?”

Should government officials be able to choose to use force when peaceful alternatives are readily available?

The agents on-site at San Ysidro reportedly advised Jasmine that she should have sought to have her visa renewed at a consulate but gave her no opportunity to do so. She is now facing a five-year ban from the United States, which she plans to appeal.

“I love America,” she told the New York Times, “I love my friends there. I love the life I was building there and the opportunities.”