A Canadian businesswoman said US immigration authorities detained her for two weeks after she sought a new work visa at the San Diego border, an experience she described as abrupt, confusing and lacking clear explanations. Jasmine Mooney provided a first-person account of the detention to the Guardian; the supplied evidence contains her version of events but no response from US immigration agencies.
Mooney, who grew up in Whitehorse, Yukon, said she had worked across acting, hospitality, property and health and wellness. She had previously received a trade agreement work visa for a role with a US health-tonics company and travelled between Canada and California. A border officer later questioned how that visa had been processed, raised an issue involving hemp in one of the company’s beverages, revoked the visa and told her to reapply before returning to work in the United States.
After spending several months in Canada, Mooney said she obtained an offer from another wellness company and returned to the same San Diego immigration office to seek a new visa. An officer told her that, because of the earlier complications, she would need to apply through a consulate and would be sent back to Canada. Mooney said she accepted that outcome and expected to arrange a flight home.
Instead, according to her account, officers took her belongings, searched her and placed her in a cold holding cell with five other women. She said the lights remained on, information was scarce and she was not allowed to call her friend until the third day. Mooney recalled receiving paperwork stating that she faced a five-year ban unless she applied for re-entry through a consulate. She said an officer told her the outcome would apply whether or not she signed, and she signed while exhausted.
Mooney said she offered to pay for a return flight but was subsequently transferred to the Otay Mesa Detention Center. There, she was given a uniform, fingerprinted, interviewed and placed alone in a cell. A staff member warned her that detention could last days, weeks or even months, she recalled. Her account also described sleeping on a mat under a foil sheet in the initial holding cell and later feeling relief when she received a blanket at Otay Mesa.
The case highlights the severe uncertainty a traveller can face after being denied admission, but the available source does not provide official records explaining the legal basis, length or procedural handling of Mooney’s detention. Her statement that she had no criminal record and her description of what officers said remain personal testimony within the supplied material.
Mooney characterised her treatment as akin to being kidnapped, while also saying that attention from lawyers and the media made her luckier than many other detainees. Any broader assessment of agency policy or legal compliance would require official documentation and additional independent evidence.
