Canadian Mother Daughter Ice Custody: A B.C. Family’s Warning from Inside a Texas Detention Center

Inside a fluorescent-lit room at a south Texas processing center, a 47-year-old woman comforts her seven-year-old daughter while night lights never go out and guards watch without pause. The case cited as canadian mother daughter ice custody began when Tania Warner and her child were taken by immigration agents at a roadside checkpoint; now the mother is warning other immigrants to keep out of sight while legal papers are pending.

What happened at the checkpoint?

Tania Warner says the family was driving home from a baby shower when they were stopped at a border patrol checkpoint in Sarita. Warner and her daughter Ayla were taken by Immigration and Customs Enforcement to be fingerprinted, and neither returned that day. Warner said they were held for about five and a half hours at the checkpoint before being sent to a processing facility.

The family moved from British Columbia to Kingsville, Texas, when Warner married her husband, Edward Warner, in 2021. Edward Warner said ICE him “she overstayed her visa, ” even though he provided a copy of a U. S. employment authorization card issued to his wife last year with an expiry date of 8 June 2030.

What is Canadian Mother Daughter Ice Custody and why are conditions controversial?

The pair were first held at the Rio Grande Valley central processing center in McAllen and were later moved to the Dilley immigration processing center in south Texas. Dilley was originally opened under Barack Obama, shuttered during the administration of Joe Biden, and reopened in early 2025 to hold detained families; the facility has been heavily criticized for inhumane conditions.

Warner described the initial treatment as “horrific. ” She said every person at the first facility was handcuffed, “including children, ” and that detainees slept on the floor on 2-inch mats while lights stayed on 24 hours a day. Agents would not let her call a lawyer and pressured her to sign documents agreeing to “self-deport. ” At Dilley, Warner said conditions are marginally better — detainees have access to windows and occasional outdoor time — but there is no privacy and guards watch round the clock.

Warner added, “The people in here are not criminals … They’ve had their dignity and their freedom stripped from them because they have their papers processing. ” She also said, “You shouldn’t be putting children, families in jail. It’s unjust. “

How are the family and legal advocates responding?

Ayla, who was born in British Columbia and is on the autism spectrum, has struggled with overstimulation and the disruption of routines while detained, and Warner said the child has developed a persistent full-body rash that was treated with Benadryl. Throughout the ordeal, Warner said Ayla has tried to be brave, befriending other children who “just want to go home. “

The family’s lawyer is working to secure the pair’s release on payment of a $15, 000 bond. Warner said she does not want to leave the United States — “My life is here with my husband. I love him. I don’t want to leave. ” At the same time, she said the experience has left her with “a really ugly taste in my mouth for the United States. “

Warner has warned other immigrants to “lie low” while their papers are processing, stating bluntly: “Don’t go anywhere near a checkpoint, and if your papers are in processing, just lay low. Trump meant what he said — he is trying to get rid of everyone, whether they are good or bad. “

Lawyers and advocates are pursuing legal avenues to secure release, while the family presses documentation showing work authorization. The immediate legal aim is a bond that would allow mother and daughter to be released from custody while paperwork continues to move through immigration channels.

Back in the dimly lit room where Ayla clings to a stuffed toy, the family waits for the outcome of that legal effort. The case framed as canadian mother daughter ice custody has become a private ordeal and a public warning, leaving open questions about detention of families whose paperwork is still in process and the toll that detention takes on children and caregivers.