{"id":144906,"date":"2025-08-14T11:08:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-14T11:08:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/144906\/"},"modified":"2025-08-14T11:08:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T11:08:10","slug":"nearly-150-canadians-held-in-ice-custody-this-year-including-two-toddlers-data-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/144906\/","title":{"rendered":"Nearly 150 Canadians held in ICE custody this year, including two toddlers, data show"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Asylum seekers at the ICE South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas, in 2019. A Globe and Mail analysis shows one Canadian toddler was detained for several weeks at the facility.Eric Gay\/The Associated Press<\/p>\n

At least two Canadian toddlers have been held in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody this year, including one who was detained for 51 days, more than double the legal detention period for migrant children in the United States, a Globe and Mail analysis of American enforcement data shows.<\/p>\n

The children, who are under the age of four, were both detained at a remote Texas facility that has been the subject of a legal complaint alleging inadequate access to safe drinking water, medical care and legal assistance. At the time of detention, they appear to have been accompanied by adults who were also apprehended.<\/p>\n

The toddlers are among 149 Canadians ranging between two and 77 years old who have been held at some point in ICE custody since January, when President Donald Trump took office and ordered an expansive immigration crackdown.<\/p>\n

Afghan family seeking entry into Canada detained by ICE<\/a><\/p>\n

Subsidiary of Canadian security company cleared to provide up to $138-million in \u2018emergency detention\u2019 services to ICE<\/a><\/p>\n

The anonymized ICE data are current to the end of July and disclose details about thousands of detention cases dating back to 2023, including detainees\u2019 nationality, year of birth, time in custody and the reason for the detention. The information was obtained through a federal district-court lawsuit against ICE brought by the Deportation Data Project, which is run by a group of academics and lawyers in the U.S. <\/p>\n

Mr. Trump\u2019s mass deportation campaign has focused heavily on immigrants from Latin America, raising significant concerns about due process \u2013 particularly for those at risk of removal to unsafe countries. <\/p>\n

The data set analyzed by The Globe provides the clearest picture yet of the degree to which Canadians have also been caught up in the White House\u2019s efforts. As of the end of July, 56 Canadians arrested this year were still in ICE detention, the analysis shows. Overall, the number of Canadians detained is on pace to double that of last year. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

In addition, at least three other Canadians remain in detention after being arrested in 2024, the data show.<\/p>\n

Those actively detained were being held in 34 different facilities, including county jails, federal prisons and privately run ICE detention centres. <\/p>\n

One Canadian was being held at the Federal Detention Center Miami, where 49-year-old Canadian Johnny Noviello died at the end of June. Mr. Noviello\u2019s death remains under investigation. Another Canadian spent nearly 12 days at the Alexandria staging facility in Louisiana meant for short-term detentions of under 72 hours. He remains in detention at another facility.<\/p>\n

Global Affairs Canada did not respond directly to more than a dozen questions sent by The Globe, and did not confirm whether Canadian officials were aware that two children had spent time in ICE detention.<\/p>\n

\u201cDue to privacy considerations, we cannot comment on specific cases,\u201d spokesperson Charlotte MacLeod said. <\/p>\n

\u201cGlobal Affairs Canada can discuss complaints about ill-treatment or discrimination with the local authorities. It cannot, however, ask for special treatment for citizens, try to spare them from the due process of local law or overrule the decisions of local authorities.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a statement to The Globe, Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of public affairs at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), said the Trump administration is \u201ccommitted to restoring the rule of law and common sense to our immigration system.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms. McLaughlin said the department takes its responsibility to protect children seriously. All detainees are provided with proper meals, safe drinking water and medical care, and have opportunities to communicate with family members and lawyers, she added. <\/p>\n

\u201cAllegations of subprime conditions at these facilities are FALSE,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The Globe\u2019s analysis found that among the Canadians detained by ICE was a girl born in 2023, making her between 1\u00bd <\/b>and 2\u00bd years old. She was detained in late May at the South Texas Family Residential Center, and appears to have been detained with a Bolivian woman and another child, who was born in 2019 and also has Bolivian citizenship.<\/p>\n

The data do not indicate when detainees are being held with other family members, but showed that the Canadian children and adults had matching book-in, transfer and release times. <\/p>\n

The Bolivian woman was picked up for an immigration violation and does not have a criminal record. The woman and two children have been placed in expedited removal proceedings, but have been granted a credible fear referral \u2013 indicating a fear of persecution if they are deported. They were granted a conditional release from detention in mid-July to await a decision on their case.<\/p>\n

The ICE data show that another Canadian child, born in 2022, was also detained in early May. The boy appears to have been detained with a Congolese woman for almost four days in an ICE hold room near the Canadian border. At the time, these sites were meant for detentions of under 12 hours. The policy has since changed to 72 hours.<\/p>\n

The Congolese woman was picked up for an immigration violation and does not have a criminal record.<\/p>\n

The pair were then transferred to the South Texas facility where they remained in custody for more than two weeks. They were subsequently released on a supervision order. <\/p>\n

The detention site features prominently in a legal challenge related to the White House\u2019s continuing efforts to dismantle the Flores Settlement Agreement, which, among its provisions, sets out protections for minors in immigration detention. That includes the requirement that children remain in government custody for no more than 20 days.<\/p>\n

The Globe reviewed hundreds of pages of court records in the case, including sworn declarations from advocacy organizations and children and their parents at the South Texas facility.<\/p>\n

Details from the testimonies include a mother who said she couldn\u2019t readily access formula for her baby or potable water with which to mix it; children held for weeks with no access to toys, activities or educational programming; a three-year-old boy who was throwing himself on the ground due to lack of sleep and anxiety; and a six-year-old with leukemia who had no access to his regular cancer treatment.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to die here. And I don\u2019t want to live here either,\u201d reads June testimony from a 13-year-old child at the facility.<\/p>\n

The site is run by private corrections giant CoreCivic. In a statement, CoreCivic\u2019s senior director of public affairs, Ryan Gustin, said the company\u2019s top priority at all its facilities is \u201cthe safety, health and well-being of the individuals entrusted to our care and our dedicated staff.\u201d<\/p>\n

In total, more than 2,500 children under the age of 18 have spent time in immigration detention across the U.S. this year, The Globe\u2019s data analysis shows. The vast majority are from Latin American countries. <\/p>\n

Man who died in ICE custody among dozens of Canadians in immigration-related detention<\/a><\/p>\n

While Flores places a 20-day limit on child detention, a sworn declaration from the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES) says ICE \u201chas been steadily growing less compliant with that limit.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe served a family with a 9-month-old baby who lost 4kg (8.82 lb) over a month\u2019s time,\u201d the declaration says.<\/p>\n

Some testimonies also state that families have struggled to access legal support from detention in order to challenge their deportations.<\/p>\n

Sarah Kahn, a senior staff attorney with the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law, which is among the groups fighting in court to preserve the Flores protections, told The Globe that the CHRCL has interviewed families at the South Texas facility who fear they will be harmed if forced to return to their home country.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels like they\u2019re the walking dead,\u201d she said. \u201cIt feels like people are just waiting to be deported to, potentially, their death or certainly persecution.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a statement to The Globe, the White House defended its immigration policy and said its ICE facilities have the \u201chighest standards.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Trump administration\u2019s immigration crackdown has ensnared everyone from asylum seekers to legal U.S. residents. Mr. Noviello, the Canadian man who died in ICE custody earlier this year, lived in the United States for decades as a permanent resident. He was arrested at a probation office two years after being convicted of several drug-related offences, making him deportable under U.S. immigration law. <\/p>\n

Almost 70 per cent of the Canadians detained by ICE this year have a criminal record or pending criminal charges. Conversely, more than 71 per cent of the broader immigration detainee population in the U.S. have never been convicted of a crime, data from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) at Syracuse University show. <\/p>\n

Charles Kuck, founding partner at Kuck Baxter in Atlanta and an adjunct professor of law at Georgia\u2019s Emory University, said Canadians with criminal records are being targeted because they\u2019re less likely to be scooped up in workplace raids.<\/p>\n

Mr. Kuck said that while non-U.S. citizens with criminal convictions are vulnerable to deportation under American immigration law, there are avenues for potential relief \u2013 for example if the person is married to a U.S. citizen. The question, he said, is whether Canadians have been able to seek such relief.<\/p>\n

The White House\u2019s direction to arrest and detain more people has resulted in many ICE facilities operating overcapacity. For example, Krome \u2013 a Florida detention site where 13 Canadians have been held at some point this year \u2013 was holding almost 1,200 more people than its contractual capacity as of April, according to data from TRAC.<\/p>\n

Thirteen people have died in ICE custody this year. The latest fatality occurred in early August, when a 32-year-old Chinese citizen was found hanging by the neck in a shower room at an ICE detention facility in Pennsylvania. Four Canadians are currently detained at the same detention site.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Asylum seekers at the ICE South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas,…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":144907,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2147,50,4741],"class_list":{"0":"post-144906","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-canada","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-pleasemod"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115026808391498691","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144906","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=144906"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144906\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/144907"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=144906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=144906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=144906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}