U.S. Border Patrol and ICE detained Canadian mother and her 7-year-old autistic daughter for 19 days despite valid work visa

On March 14, 2026, U.S. Border Patrol agents detained Canadian citizen Tania Warner, who holds a U.S. work visa valid through 2030, and her seven-year-old daughter Ayla Lucas, who has autism, at a checkpoint in Sarita, Texas, as the family drove home from a baby shower. According to Warner's husband, Edward Warner, a U.S. citizen, agents took Warner in "for fingerprinting" after reviewing her Texas driver's license, work visa, and other paperwork, and she did not return; ICE agents then took Ayla in the same way. The pair were held first at the Rio Grande Valley Central Processing Center in McAllen, Texas, and, five days later, transferred to the Dilley family detention center in Dilley, Texas.

Relatives said the family received no explanation for the detention despite Warner's paperwork being current, and described poor conditions at the processing facility, including sleeping on floor mats and overcrowding. Global Affairs Canada said it was aware of "multiple cases" of Canadians in U.S. immigration detention. A U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said work authorization does not confer legal status to remain in the country and that "being in detention is a choice."

Updates

2026-04-02 — Warner and her daughter released on $9,500 bond after 19 days [2][3]

At a bond hearing days earlier, Warner's immigration lawyer argued she had filed all required documents and had federal approval to extend her stay; a judge set bond at $9,500 and found Warner and Ayla were not flight risks. The pair were released from the Dilley detention center on April 2, 2026, after 19 days in custody, with Warner fitted with an ankle monitor pending further immigration hearings.

2026-06 — Warner's June 23 immigration hearing canceled amid nationwide court injunction [4]

By mid-June 2026, Warner's previously scheduled June 23 immigration hearing had been canceled and her case placed in what she described as a "deportation freeze," which she attributed to a federal injunction issued in a California district court affecting immigration proceedings; ICE and the Executive Office for Immigration Review declined to comment on the case's status.