‘American Pie' actress Jasmine Mooney breaks silence after 12-day ICE detention
Jasmine Mooney, known for her role in American Pie Presents: The Book of Love, has spoken publicly after being detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for 12 days. The Canadian actress was taken into custody on March 3 while attempting to cross the San Ysidro border between Mexico and San Diego to renew her Trade NAFTA (TN) work visa, according to her mother, Alexis Eagles.
Mooney was reportedly carrying an incomplete application for a new TN visa, which allows Canadian professionals to work in the U.S. She was initially held at the border for three nights before being transferred to Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego. After another three days, she was moved to the San Luis Detention Center in Arizona, despite online records suggesting she had been released.
Speaking to CTV News at Vancouver International Airport upon her return home, Mooney described her experience as 'inhumane', claiming she was given little to no information about why she was being detained. 'No one told me anything. Not once,' she said. 'I still don't even know how I'm home.'
During her time in detention, Mooney told ABC's 10 News San Diego that she was forced to sleep on a mat without a blanket or pillow, wrapped only in an aluminum foil sheet for warmth. She also alleged that the food quality was so poor that she avoided eating, resulting in significant weight loss.
Following her release, Mooney took to Instagram to thank those who advocated for her, reflecting on her ordeal. In a now-expired Instagram Story, she shared that she had begun writing an essay about her experience and vowed to make it public. 'I refuse to let what happened break me; instead, I'm choosing to use my voice in the hope that it can help others.'
Her case has also sparked discussions about visa policies and the treatment of detainees by U.S. immigration authorities.
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When screenwriters flirted with forbidden love across borders, when a song could soften suspicion, and when a poem could become protest. Today, those scripts are shelved, their authors quiet, their protagonists, for all intents and purposes, neutered by eagle-eyed publicists and spectres of political correctness. So here we are, popcorn in one hand, a tear stained handkerchief in the other, looking at the silver screen, waiting for someone, anyone, in this great theatre of the subcontinent, to play the role of the artist again. To remind us that before they were influencers, stars were simply storytellers. That their job was not just to reflect power, but to sometimes question it. And perhaps one day, they will. When it's safer. When the script changes. When bravery is back in vogue. Until then, we are left with silence. Polished. PR-approved. Politically correct. But silence nonetheless. Shahzad Abdullah is a PR and communications strategist, cultural curator and director of communications at Media Matters All facts are information are the sole responsibility of the
