Penticton Mother Details 'Sadistic' ICE Treatment While Detained with Autistic Daughter
A British Columbia woman detained with her seven-year-old autistic daughter in United States immigration facilities has described guards as "sadistic, inhumane and abusive" in a detailed statement about their ordeal. Tania Warner and her daughter Ayla Lucas were taken into custody by U.S. authorities in Texas earlier this month and remain in immigration detention despite having proper documentation.
Provincial MLA Working for Release
Amelia Boultbee, MLA for Penticton-Summerland, confirmed she is working with the federal government to secure the release of Warner and her daughter. "We are looking at any kind of diplomatic or legal approach we can take to assist them," Boultbee said. "It's horrible what's going on with ICE in America, the lack of due process, treating folks like criminals is objectionable, and we particularly take exception when they are doing it to Canadians."
Boultbee called the detention "extrajudicial" and the conditions "inhumane," noting that Warner has committed no crime and her paperwork appears to be in order.
Detention Conditions Described as Torturous
Warner and her daughter were first taken to an ICE detention facility after being pulled over by officers in Sarita, Texas, on March 14. They were traveling home from a baby shower with Warner's American husband, Edward Warner, when they were stopped at an immigration checkpoint.
After being ordered out of their vehicle and separated from Edward, Warner and her daughter were jailed at the Ursula Central Processing Center in McAllen, Texas. They spent five days sleeping on the floor in a cold cellblock with other detainees before being transferred to the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Dilley, Texas.
In her statement, Warner described how guards at the Ursula Centre would taunt her for being Canadian. "Is this the Canadian?" guards would say, according to Warner. "I can't believe we got a Canadian."
"They thought it was a novelty to detain and mentally torture myself and my daughter," said Warner. Her daughter became so stressed at Ursula that she broke out in a rash from her ankles to her buttocks.
Legal Efforts Underway for Release
Edward Warner told media that he and his lawyers are in the process of applying for an ICE bond, similar to bail, which would allow his wife and daughter to be released while awaiting an immigration hearing. The tattoo artist lives in Kingsville, Texas, approximately a two-and-a-half hour drive from the Dilley Centre, and makes the trip to visit them as often as possible.
At the Dilley facility, conditions have improved marginally with bunk beds available instead of sleeping on the floor, but the family remains separated and detained despite having proper immigration documentation.
Warner said authorities told her she would be deported and could "do it the easy way or the hard way" by choosing to self-deport. The Canadian government continues to work through diplomatic channels to resolve what provincial officials have characterized as an unjust detention of Canadian citizens.
