By JIMMY MCCLOSKEY and GERMANIA RODRIGUEZ POLEO, CHIEF U.S. REPORTER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
An American Pie actress sobbed and spoke of her terror after being hurled in jail by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for illegally entering the US.
Jasmine Mooney, 35, bawled in a video call from the San Luis Regional Detention Center in Arizona Thursday night while awaiting deportation to her native Canada.
‘I’ve never seen anything like this,’ she told ABC10.
‘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.’
Mooney, a health water entrepreneur who starred in 2009’s American Pie: The Book of Love, was detained at the San Ysidro border crossing between Mexico and San Diego on March 3 after trying to enter California without a valid visa.
She claims her US work visa was revoked in November 2024 while trying to travel from her Vancouver to Los Angeles, where she lives and runs a drink firm called Holy! Water.
The entrepreneur says a customs officer at Vancouver Airport voided that visa over a paperwork issue, but did not elaborate further on why.
Mooney said that her lawyer told 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.
Jasmine Mooney is seen sobbing from her ICE custody center. The Canadian actress-turned-entrepreneur was taken into custody earlier this month after trying to cross from Mexico into the US without a visa
Mooney says her previous work visa was revoked in Vancouver in December. She says she was told she could
But that plan 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 deemed an illegal alien and ordered into custody.
Mooney says her time in custody has left her confused, weak and and has forced her to meditate to keep calm.
‘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.’
ICE officials confirmed Mooney was detained because she didn’t have the legal right to be in the United States.
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 has not been brought before an immigration judge during her time in custody.
Her frantic family have hired lawyers and say they’re pressuring the Canadian government to help free her.
Mooney had one scene in 2009’s American Pie Presents: The Book Of Love, where she is seen, on the right, lifting her top and exposing herself
Mooney had been living in Los Angeles before her work visa was revoked in November
Mooney was detained while trying to cross the US-Mexico border in San Diego
‘I’m desperate to have her home where she is safe, loved, and surrounded by friends and family to help her heal from this senseless trauma,’ Jasmine’s mother Alexis Eagles said.
On Thursday night, Eagles shared an update suggesting her daughter’s ordeal may soon be over.
‘Potential good news!’ she wrote.
‘We are cautiously optimistic that Jasmine will be home within the next couple of days.
‘A flight has been purchased and we’re waiting for ICE to approve it, and then cross our fingers that they get her to the airport in time.
‘I have been told that flights are often not approved until just hours prior to departure. Keep up the positive thoughts please and thank you!’
Eagles didn’t offer any further detail on how she’d apparently been able to get the wheels of justice turning for her daughter.
It is also 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.
