'American Pie' actress Jasmine Mooney said she was detained by ICE officials while trying to cross the U.S.-Mexico border to renew her work visa.
Summary
"American Pie" actress Jasmine Mooney, a Canadian citizen, was detained by ICE while attempting to renew her work visa at the U.S.-Mexico border on March 3.
She described the experience as a "deeply disturbing psychological experiment," including sleeping on a mat with "aluminum foil wrapped over my body like a dead body," being transported in chains, and receiving inedible food.
Officials allegedly told her she was "unprofessional because I didn't have a proper letterhead" on her paperwork.
After her release, Mooney credited media attention and her support network for securing her freedom.
Yeah this fucking country needs to finally be where it deserves to be on a geopolitical stage. Thankfully Russia's best puppet who got elected by that idiocracy is doing his best to make sure other nations manage to get themselves less addicted to America's bullshit.
“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,” [...] “I have never in my life seen anything so inhumane.”
She went on to describe one incident when she and 30 other women were moved in the middle of the night to a facility in Arizona. During the ordeal, she was forced to be “up for 24 hours wrapped in chains.”
Jesus Christ, they already tried that shit with the lights in Trump I and the 9th circuit told them to fucking stop it. I distinctly remember because one of the judges was in a Japanese internment camp as a kid, and he ate that dipshit Trump attorney alive.
if you work in a restaurant law enforcement eat at, I think it's safe to completely forget about food safety. food safety regulations have never been as big a deal as anti torture laws. really just have fun with it, you know?
On the other hand, if you have undocumented people working at that restaurant, best not to draw any unneeded attention to the staff by law enforcement.
I mean, no. this is several steps past when americans needed to be on the streets. this is the point where we should be getting off the streets, because there's not enough cover there.
To some degree though that's exactly why this should be more alarming: the current administration ISN'T just doing this to easy targets they know the population will ignore. If they're doing this to a nice white Canadian woman instead of brown people they can easily disappear without being noticed, that means they're getting a lot braver.
The family's using her traumatic experience to publicize the inhumane conditions at those 3 detention centres, and raise awareness for her cellmates. They talk about constant lighting (torture), being moved at 3am to a different state (fucking with your lawyer), being chained and overcrowded.
“There’s 30 other people in her cell that have not even been spoken to by a detention caseworker. So there are people in there whose families don’t know where their kids are.” - Jasmine’s father, Stephen Mooney, speaking on March 13th.
These conditions should be common knowledge, and this traumatized family is doing what they can on that front.
You and I are not more safe than she is. Our neighbours are not more safe than she is. Her escape does not make her the enemy of her cellmates. We're all Venezuelan gang members (or whoever it's ok to fuck with) if they take our papers and deem us so.
and if people don't think political dissidents are on the list, they're delusional. we may not be the priority yet, but they're checking off demographics at an alarming rate.
but they’re checking off demographics at an alarming rate.
yeah those two arab protestor students that are getting deported- they're essentially getting detained and eventually removed because they spoke out against Israel. it's an attempt to put a damper on speech for the whole country. sort of sending a message to immigrants- you better watch what you're saying or we will get you
Inhumane treatment to someone like her is probably how a blue collar worker is treated in everyday life in the states. Must suck to be a millionaire actress with connections. To be treated like a pawn like the rest of us.
When this is happening to even the beautiful white women, you know shit's a thousand times worse for BIPOC... I know that we had issues with immigration during previous administrations, but they were nothing compared to this vile treatment.
I'm confused, did she even try to cross the border or was she just there to renew her visa? Why not just send her back for fuck's sake?
Edit:
Okay, if I understood it correctly, she was already in the US and had a valid visa, which was about to expire. Her lawyer told her to go to the border to renew it, and as she was working in LA, that was the nearest border crossing. This makes it even more insane.
That's a good way for cruelty to come back around. Abuse a hundred thousand people and see if a few don't snap and take it out on those responsible. Seems like domestic terrorism may not be just a right wing hobby for too much longer. Bet authorities suddenly take it more seriously if that does happen.
10-to-1 they had no idea what to do when a Canadian citizen showed up at the Mexican borderder.
The real scary shit is in the last line:
After her release, Mooney credited media attention and her support network for securing her freedom.
How many people don't have that luxury?
Like, not every lawful immigrant is a C-list actress best known for an American Pie spinoff that didn't even have Stiffler. Surely several are falling through the cracks.
This has got me concerned that a statistically significant number of people who don't have that kind of reach are just...disappearing...
While the actress has some notoriety, huge part of the international trade relies on short term work visa. When Airbus builds a new factory in the US, or That a US factory chooses German industrial robots, you need to send people on short-term work visa to kickstart it.
And there are numerous European/German companies who have already have put a hold on all US travel for their staff. Some critical infrastructure/defence companies even seek to implement "not even for vacation" clauses for their management levels.
The German government is openly considering a travel warning. Which would fuck over things a lot because then a) employers can hardly make their staff go to the US anymore b) most travel insurance companies won't cover the US anymore with their standard plans (it's already more expensive due to the insane healthcare costs) and require individual high risk country plans - which are a lot of paperwork and everything.
This will fuck over the US royally - because even if Trump wants to push US based manufacturing these factories need equipment. And this equipment is really not produced in the US much - it comes from Europe/Japan if you want the best and China if you are interested in the "cheap" stuff.
But now it will come with either a hefty surcharge (think like double the price - or more) or not come at all because it's not worth the hazzle.
Especially for factory equipment, healthcare (there are already a lot of medical product manufacturers who simply do not serve the US market due to the insane costs to access it with little to gain) and pharma this is very relevant.
I found it very uplifting that in her own written piece, she spent much of it highlighting and telling the stories of others. Sure, it's unfortunate that this has made the headlines due to her being a white woman, but what she does with the spotlight is admirable.
The part that I learned the most from. I had no idea the detention centers were for profit:
The reality became clear: Ice detention isn’t just a bureaucratic nightmare. It’s a business. These facilities are privately owned and run for profit.
Companies like CoreCivic and GEO Group receive government funding based on the number of people they detain, which is why they lobby for stricter immigration policies. It’s a lucrative business: CoreCivic made over $560m from Ice contracts in a single year. In 2024, GEO Group made more than $763m from Ice contracts.
The more detainees, the more money they make. It stands to reason that these companies have no incentive to release people quickly. What I had experienced was finally starting to make sense.
You're getting downvoted but it's important that we remember this. She's hot, she's white, she's an actress. She said herself she thinks it's thanks to her friends and family working with the media that she got released at all. I bet she'd agree with you that being white played into her favor here.
Think about all the people who don't have those types of resources or public empathy points. We have no idea who is actually locked up right now or what will happen to them.
You can sue for false imprisonment and other stuff I'm sure. Shouldn't be too hard to win in California, especially if her green card was valid when she was taken.
this. the system is broken. the DOJ is owned. trump et al are above the law. they knew going in that the entire charade only operates under the threat of violence and they currently have a monopoly on that. if you don't have stock in violence, you don't have a place at the table. we all need to buy some stock.
These stories make me wish people hadn't reelected Bush and Obama when both made it very clear they were supportive of fascist policies like torture, extraordinary rendition, drone bombings without accountability, permanent imprisonment, etc.
No, it's just at home now. The CIA has been torturing people in black sites around the globe for decades now. If anything, those conditions were far worse, since it doesn't seem like any migrants detained are getting waterboarded yet.