Mooney (r) in American Pie Presents: The Book of Love. Credit: Universal Pictures

The 35-year-old Vancouver native and actress – who now resides in Los Angeles as the co-founder of the Holy! Water wellness brand – described the ordeal as “inhumane” and said she was shackled and transferred between multiple detention centers before her release on March 14.

“We were up for 24 hours wrapped in chains,” Mooney told San Diego ABC News affiliate KGTV, recounting a nighttime transfer from California to Arizona with about 30 other detainees.

How It All Began: A Trip Home That Took a Dark Turn

Mooney’s ordeal began in November 2024 when she attempted to fly from Vancouver to Los Angeles and was informed that her three-year TN work visa had been revoked.

Determined to continue her work in the U.S., she says that she gathered her job paperwork and planned to apply for a new visa at the same border crossing in San Ysidro, California, where she had originally received it.

Mooney says she was detained in “inhumane” conditions. Credit: Instagram/JasmineMooney

Despite warnings from her immigration lawyer, Len Saunders, about the risks posed by the current political climate under President Donald Trump’s administration, Mooney proceeded with her plan.

“Jasmine mentioned she was going to San Ysidro. I said, ‘I don’t think that’s a good idea with this new administration and the political climate,’” Saunders told CityNews Vancouver. “If you get denied a visa, they just deny you entry, and you come back with whatever’s missing. That’s how it’s always worked.”

However, when Mooney arrived at the San Ysidro border crossing on March 3, she was denied entry into the U.S. and refused re-entry into Mexico. Instead of being sent back to Canada, she was immediately taken into ICE custody and detained at the Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego.

“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,” she told KGTV from inside the San Luis Regional Detention Center in Arizona.

Transferred Between Facilities Without Explanation

Over the next several days, Mooney – who is known for her role in American Pie Presents: The Book of Love – claims she was transferred between detention centers with little communication from officials.

Mooney says she was “wrapped in chains” after attempting to renew her visa. Credit: LinkedIn

On March 9, her family checked ICE’s online detainee tracking system, which indicated that she had been released. Assuming she was on her way back to Canada, they waited for news — but none came.

“However, 24 hours later, there was no sign of her, no communication, and we were extremely worried,” Mooney’s mother, Alexis Eagles, wrote in a Facebook post. “We eventually learned that about 30 people, including Jasmine, were forcibly removed from their cells at 3:00 a.m. and transferred to the San Luis Detention Center in Arizona.”

“Every single guard that sees me is like, ‘What are you doing here? I don’t understand — you’re Canadian. How are you here?’” Mooney told KGTV, before describing the conditions she experienced as “inhumane”.

Despite the difficult conditions, Mooney’s family and friends stayed vigilant, pressing for updates and demanding transparency.

Her business partner, BJ McCaslin, described the situation as surreal.

“It’s a nightmare,” he told CityNews Vancouver amid Mooney’s detainment. “She has no idea how this happened.

“No one knows what’s going on, and that’s our biggest concern here, right? If she’s charged with a crime, then we’d like for her to have an opportunity to have counsel and go through due process. But from what we’re understanding, it’s just a detainment, and so we’d love to have transparency in the situation and expedite a finality to it.”

Canadian Officials React: “This Is Reckless”

The Canadian government confirmed that they were aware of Mooney’s detention but stated that they could not interfere in another country’s immigration policies.

Mooney shared concerning details of her experiencing being detained by ICE. Credit: David Dee Delgado/Getty Images

“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 told PEOPLE.

However, British Columbia Premier David Eby urged Canadian officials to do everything they could to bring Mooney home, calling her detainment a symptom of growing tensions between Canada and the United States.

“What about our relatives who are working in the States? What about when we cross the border? What kind of an experience are we going to have?” Eby said to CityNews Vancouver. “The harm that this does to the U.S. economy through impacted tourism, impacted business relationships, impacted people who are seeking visas to work in the United States who have special skills that they can’t get anywhere else — it is reckless, the approach of the president. And this woman should be brought back to Canada as quickly as possible.”

Mooney Shares ‘Inhumane’ Experience

Mooney and other detainees have criticized the conditions inside ICE detention centers, calling them unsanitary and inhumane.

“I have never in my life seen anything so inhumane,” Mooney told ABC 10News San Diego.

“I was put in a cell and I had to sleep on a mat, with no blankets, no pillow, with an aluminum foil wrapped over my body like a dead body for two and a half days,” she continued. “We were up for 24 hours wrapped in chains.

“There are girls, women that have been in here for weeks, for months, and have not been told anything.”

She also complained about the food quality in the facilities, though a spokesperson for the private company running the San Luis Regional Detention Center, Brian Todd, refuted the claims.

“Menus are reviewed and approved on a regular basis by a registered dietitian to ensure appropriate nutrition is provided to those entrusted to our care,” Todd, a Core Civic spokesman, said.

Finally Released After 11 Days

After 11 days behind bars, Mooney was finally released on March 14. She credited the mounting political and media pressure for her release.

Her father echoed this sentiment, telling CBS, “Jasmine’s a strong girl, but what she has gone through … no one should do that.”

Mooney’s detention and subsequent release have raised questions about U.S. immigration policies, particularly in relation to Canadian citizens seeking work visas.

For now, she is simply relieved to be free.

“Jasmine is an adventurous and hard-working young woman, and we desperately want her home,” her mother pleaded in her Facebook post before her release.