{"id":549277,"date":"2026-03-20T15:56:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T15:56:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/549277\/"},"modified":"2026-03-20T15:56:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T15:56:14","slug":"fears-for-b-c-woman-daughter-detained-at-texas-immigration-facility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/549277\/","title":{"rendered":"Fears for B.C. woman, daughter detained at Texas immigration facility"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Family and friends are expressing fears for a Penticton, B.C., woman and her daughter who have been detained by U.S. authorities in Texas and are currently in an immigration holding facility. <\/p>\n

Tania Warner \u2014 a 47-year-old who family say is legally in the U.S. on a worker’s visa \u2014 and daughter Ayla Lucas were stopped at a U.S. border checkpoint on their way back from a baby shower.<\/p>\n

Seven-year-old Lucas has autism, leading to fears from loved ones that border detention could be disturbing for the child.<\/p>\n

Husband Edward Warner lives with Tania and Lucas in Kingsville, Texas. The two were on their way back from a baby shower in Raymondville on Saturday, and had to stop at a mandatory border checkpoint in Sarita, Texas.<\/p>\n

It was something they had done before without any issues at the checkpoint, which is located inside the U.S. and not at an international border.<\/p>\n

\"ATania Warner, 47, is seen with her seven-year-old daughter Ayla Lucas, in this image provided by Warner’s husband Edward. Warner has been in the U.S. for around five years, according to a family friend. (Submitted by Edward Warner)<\/p>\n

But this time, Edward says, the mother and child were detained. They are among dozens of Canadians who have been detained by U.S. immigration authorities<\/a>, whose tactics as part of an ongoing immigration crackdown<\/a> across the U.S. have faced criticism<\/a> over alleged human rights abuses.<\/p>\n

“A little freaked out. It’s definitely traumatizing for a seven-year-old,” Edward Warner told CBC News on Tuesday about his stepdaughter. “Very not happy being there, I wouldn’t be either.<\/p>\n

“My wife’s having anxiety attacks and all sorts of problems,” he added.<\/p>\n

CBC News reached out to U.S. federal authorities for this story, but did not immediately hear back before publication.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada said that it was aware of “multiple cases of Canadians currently or previously in immigration-related detention in the U.S.” and consular officials would provide assistance as required by international law.<\/p>\n

“Consular officials advocate for Canadian citizens abroad and raise concerns about justified and serious complaints of ill-treatment or discrimination with the local authorities but cannot exempt Canadians from local legal processes,” the spokesperson wrote.<\/p>\n

“Due to privacy considerations, no further information can be disclosed.”<\/p>\n

\"AFamily members say Warner and Lucas are being held in the U.S. Border Patrol Central Processing Center known as ‘Ursula’ in McAllen, Texas. (Loren Elliott\/Reuters)’System is just designed to be cruel’<\/p>\n

Tania has been in the U.S. for around five years, according to family friend Mario Mu\u00f1oz, whose wife’s baby shower the family was attending before the detainment.<\/p>\n

Tania was initially in the U.S. on a visitor visa before she married Edward and obtained a worker’s visa, according to Mu\u00f1oz.<\/p>\n

“I know she’s got legal working status … so we were completely caught off guard by them taking her in,” he told CBC News on Thursday.<\/p>\n

\"ATania Warner, 47, met her husband Edward in the U.S. via social media, according to family friend Mario Mu\u00f1oz. (Submitted by Edward Warner)<\/p>\n

Mu\u00f1oz said that, earlier Saturday, Ayla was playing with his niece and granddaughter and there was talk of setting up play dates for the children.<\/p>\n

“To go from having a great day to being literally in jail, like locked up, detained \u2014 for a seven-year-old, any seven-year-old, that’s insane,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"ASeven-year-old Ayla Lucas is on the autism spectrum, according to her stepfather Edward. (Submitted by Edward Warner)<\/p>\n

Mu\u00f1oz said that U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in the region had been “raiding” work camps and neighbourhoods and detaining people “left and right,” but this was the first person he was connected to directly that was being detained.<\/p>\n

The agency, which U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has said is targeting violent criminals<\/a> as part of a deportation push<\/a>, has faced criticism on multiple fronts.<\/p>\n

WATCH | Plan to deport millions:\"\"<\/p>\n

How Trump turned ICE into a mass deportation machine <\/p>\n

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has become a central tool in U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s plan to deport millions of undocumented migrants, but as CBC\u2019s Jonathan Montpetit explains, that\u2019s not what the agency was originally designed to do. <\/p>\n

That includes non-profits expressing concerns over conditions at detention facilities<\/a> to ICE’s arresting tactics<\/a> themselves. <\/p>\n

The criticism was only heightened during a recent immigration crackdown<\/a> in Minnesota, in which federal agents fatally shot<\/a> two American citizens, leading to widespread protests<\/a> over ICE actions.<\/p>\n

Mu\u00f1oz and Edward Warner both said that they reached out to their local congressperson in Texas for help \u2014 but Tania needs to provide her signature for assistance to be rendered, which is difficult when she’s in detention.<\/p>\n

“To do this to a child is just ridiculous, and to be as unhelpful as they are … the system is just designed to be cruel to people right now, and they don’t want to do anything to make it better,” Mu\u00f1oz said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 4 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":549278,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-549277","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=549277"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549277\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/549278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=549277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=549277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=549277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}