An American Pie actress who was detained for nearly two weeks by U.S. immigration officials has finally returned home after ‘escaping a deeply disturbing psychological experiment.’
Jasmine Mooney, 35, was hurled into jail on March 3 by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials after she was deemed an illegal alien and ordered into custody.
She was denied entry into the country while trying to make her way from Mexico to San Diego, California after her work visa was revoked back in November while traveling from Vancouver to Los Angeles.
The American Pie: The Book of Love star landed back on Canadian soil on Saturday as her mother, Alexis Eagles, and friends met her at Vancouver International Airport around midnight.
According to her mother, who’s been fighting for her daughter’s return home, Mooney was detained at the San Ysidro border crossing before being transferred to San Luis Regional Detention Center in Arizona.
While she was there, Mooney said she endured some of the harshest treatment there that left her weak and confused.
After getting home, Mooney, who runs a drink firm called Holy! Water, took to her Instagram announcing her return and how she plans to share her experience and advocate for those still detained there.
‘Thank you for all your messages of support. I’m sorry if I haven’t been able to respond to everyone – just got home after what felt like escaping a deeply disturbing psychological experiment,’ the entrepreneur wrote.
Jasmine Mooney, 35, landed back in Canada on Saturday after being detained for nearly two weeks by U.S. immigration officials after trying to enter the country from Mexico on March 3
The American Pie: The Book of Love star said she felt like she was ‘escaping a deeply disturbing psychological experiment’ after being released
‘I am beyond grateful for my friends, family, and the media who worked tirelessly to get me out-without them, I’d still be there. I wouldn’t wish that experience on anyone.
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‘While I was in prison, I began writing an essay about my experience, which I will be sharing soon. I refuse to let what happened break me; instead, I’m choosing to use my voice in the hope that it can help others.’
Mooney added: ‘Through it all, I met so many incredibly strong and resilient women. The community we built-strangers uniting in a time of pure desperation-gave me profound hope for humanity. I look forward to giving them a voice.’
Mooney had her US work visa revoked in November 2024 while trying to travel from Vancouver to Los Angeles, where she lives and runs her company.
She said the nightmare all started when a customs officer at Vancouver Airport voided that visa over a paperwork issue, but did not elaborate further on why.
Her lawyer soon instructed her to fly to Mexico and go to the border there with proof of a new job offer, then ask for paperwork for a new work visa.
But that plan quickly backfired when a border worker told Mooney she’d need to obtain paperwork for a new visa at a US consulate, not the border.
She was then detained, as ICE officials confirmed Mooney didn’t have the legal right to be in the United States.
She was denied entry into the country while trying to make her way from Mexico to San Diego, California after her work visa was revoked back in November while traveling from Vancouver to Los Angeles
The former actress took to Instagram after getting home and told her followers that she plans on telling her story about her time locked up in the detention center soon
After being arrested and taken to the detention center, Mooney was featured in an emotional interview with ABC10, where she sobbed describing the conditions she and other women faced.
‘I’ve never seen anything like this,’ she told the outlet. ‘I feel like we have been kidnapped, and we are in some sort of insane social, psychological, social experiment.’
Welling up, Mooney added: ‘I really want to be a voice for the women in here, because what is happening is so unjust and I know that there’s a better way to do this.’
She also noted how her time in custody made her severely confused.
‘It’s been 11 days now, and I have no idea what is going on, they don’t tell you anything, and I have lost so much weight. I’m truly, physically, weak.’
While she was away, her mother shared further details on her daughter’s conditions, as well as other women locked up with her.
‘We eventually learned that about 30 people, including Jasmine, were forcibly removed from their cells at 3:00 am and transferred to the San Luis Detention Center in Arizona.,’ Eagles wrote on Facebook.
‘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.
‘Communication with her has been extremely sporadic, and it is only thanks to one of her close friends with contacts in the U.S. that we have been able to receive updates.’
Even after she touched down at the airport upon her return, Mooney said she has still been left in the dark about why she was locked up.
‘No one told me anything. Not once,’ Mooney told CTV News.
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‘I still don’t even know how I’m home. My friends and family and the media are the reason, I think, that I’m home,’ she continued.
When asked if President Donald Trump’s new border policies contributed to her experience, Mooney couldn’t say for sure.
‘I have no idea. I don’t want to point fingers at anything. I really – I don’t know. But, obviously, people can speculate what they want,’ she said.
Her arrest is part of a clampdown that has seen a slew of tourists detained in similar circumstances, including a German tattooist and a British comic artist.
It was green-lighted by President Donald Trump as part of his ‘Securing Our Borders’ executive order signed hours after his inauguration on January 21.
Mooney said she regrets attempting to apply for a new visa at the Mexico-American border, but she had no idea it would mean she would be detained.
Mooney said she regrets attempting to apply for a new visa at the Mexico-American border, but she had no idea it would mean she would be detained
‘If I knew that that was even a possibility, like even a possibility that that could happen, I would have never, in a million years gone there. I’m telling you, from the second I got there to now, I can’t even process what just happened,’ she explained.
As for other Canadians who are applying for visas in the US, Mooney warned them: ‘Don’t go where you can’t come directly back to Canada.’
Despite all that she’s been through, Mooney said that some of the women she met while in the detention center really put her life into perspective.
‘When I got to know everyone else in there, and heard all of their stories and how long they were in there, I was like, “OK, I’m not allowed to feel sorry for myself at all, because every single person in here is in a way worse situation than me”,’ she said.
On Thursday, British Columbia Premier David Eby said he urged the Canadian government to ensure her return in any way that they could.
Eby highlighted the tumultuous relationship Canada has right now with the U.S. amid the ongoing trade wars.
A clampdown at the U.S. border by President Donald Trump (pictured Friday) was initiated after he signed the ‘Securing Our Borders’ executive order after his inauguration on January 21
‘The nature of our relationship is so fraught right now that this case makes us all wonder, what about our relatives who are working in the States?,’ Eby said.
It is unclear if Mooney will ever be able to return to the US after entering the country illegally.
Crossing the border illegally is a crime and a civil offense. First time crossers can be jailed for up to six months and fined up to $250.
Anyone caught coming in illegally can also be banned for three years, 10 years, 20 years or even permanently depending on the length of stay and whether they committed other crimes while in the country.
DailyMail.com contacted ICE, Mooney and Eagles for comment.