American Pie actress claims she was detained by ICE whilst trying to obtain new visa

An American Pie actress has claimed she was detained by ICE whilst trying to obtain a new visa.

Last Monday, the Canadian actress, who is also an entrepreneur, was reportedly arrested by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) while trying to enter the San Ysidro border crossing between Mexico and San Diego.

Jasmine Mooney, 35, who starred as Jackie in American Pie Presents: The Book Of Love (2009), has since spoken out about her experience in Arizona's Otay Mesa Detention Center she is now fighting to get out of.

Speaking to Team 10, Mooney explained: "Every single guard that sees me is like 'What are you doing here? I don't understand - you’re Canadian. How are you here?'"

Jasmine said she was transferred to the facility and was woken up in the middle of the night and even held in chains for the journey.

She continued: "I was put in a cell, and I had to sleep on a mat with no blanket, no pillow, with an aluminium foil wrapped over my body like a dead body for two and a half days.

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

The actress, who co-founded the health tonic drink, Holy! Water, was previously working in Los Angeles on a TN visa which was revoked, said she went to the border with a new job offer and visa paperwork. She continued to say she got her first visa at the San Ysidro border crossing on the advice of a Los Angeles attorney who met her at the border.

Mooney claimed that authorities at the Vancouver airport in Canada revoked her first visa when she was visiting home, adding: "They told me I was unprofessional because I didn't have a proper letterhead on my paperwork."

The outlet reports: "Mooney said a border officer told her because she had a prior visa revoked, she needed to go to a U.S. consulate to apply for legal status to work in the country again.

"She said the officer refused to allow her to go back to Mexico and ordered her to be detained."

Jasmine Mooney starred as Jackie in (Universal Pictures)

One issue the officers potentially had with Mooney's previous US employment is that one Holy! Water drink advertises on its website contains Delta-9 'full spectrum hemp'.

While the 2018 Farm Bill legalised hemp, including Delta 9-THC, anything with more than 0.3% THC is still considered a controlled substance under federal law.

US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reportedly wouldn’t tell Team 10 the reason for Mooney’s detention, citing privacy restrictions.

However, the agency said it routinely denies travellers from entering the country on '60 different grounds' claiming they treat 'all travellers with integrity, respect and professionalism' - something which Mooney fervently disagrees with.

She claimed she was kept in a cold room at the border by CBP before being arrested by ICE, who brought her to the Otay Mesa Detention Center where she said the food was awful.

Mooney also said, in the middle of the night, herself and 30 other women were woken up to be transferred to a facility in Arizona.

"We were up for 24 hours wrapped in chains," she recalled.

As of Thursday (13 March), Mooney said she had no idea as to when she will be released from detention with her best friend, Brittany Kors, now trying to put pressure on the Canadian government to intervene.

“I just feel like there has to be more that they can do this. This can't be right. It can't be allowed to happen," Kors told the outlet. "I just feel really helpless… We don't know what the next steps are. We don't even know the reason why they are holding her there."

The Canadian government has since said it is aware of Mooney’s detention and is working to gather more information from authorities in Arizona.

"Every country or territory decides who can enter or exit through its borders. The Government of Canada cannot intervene on behalf of Canadian citizens with regard to the entry and exit requirements of another country," Global Affairs Canada spokeswoman, Brittany Fletcher, said.

Tyla has reached out to both ICE and the Otay Mesa Detention Center for comment.

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