A Canadian woman who has been imprisoned with her seven-year-old daughter by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has cautioned other immigrants that they are at risk of detention, even if they follow the correct legal process – and warned them to keep out of sight for as long as Donald Trump is president.

“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,” said Tania Warner, 47, who is currently held with her autistic daughter, Ayla, at the Dilley immigration processing center in south Texas.

“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 told the Guardian. “You shouldn’t be putting children, families in jail. It’s unjust.”

The pair moved from British Columbia to Kingsville, Texas, in 2021 when Warner married Edward Warner, who is a US citizen.

The family was driving home from a baby shower in Raymondville, Texas, on 14 March when they were stopped at a border patrol checkpoint in Sarita. Tania Warner and her daughter were taken in by ICE agents to be fingerprinted, and neither returned.

They were originally held at Rio Grande Valley central processing center in McAllen, Texas, but were moved early on Friday to Dilley – which was originally opened under Barack Obama but later shuttered during the administration of Joe Biden. It reopened in early 2025 to hold detained families and has been heavily criticized for inhumane conditions.

Tania Warner described the treatment of her and her daughter as “horrific” from the start. After being held for about five and a half hours at the checkpoint, they were sent to the first facility, where “every single person … was handcuffed – including children”, the mother said.

There, they slept on the floor on 2in mats and the lights were on 24 hours a day. Agents would not let Warner call a lawyer and constantly pressured her to sign documents agreeing to “self-deport”.

“They’re abusive, and their tactics are to threaten you and to be so inhospitable that you deport yourself,” Warner said. She and her family say she has made it clear they have all the correct documents to live and work in the US, but that has been ignored.

“My life is here with my husband. I love him. I don’t want to leave. But at the same time, I’ve gotten a really ugly taste in my mouth for the United States,” she said.

Throughout the ordeal, Ayla has put on a brave face, befriending other children who also “just want to go home”, said Warner. But she has also developed a persistent full-body rash, for which she has been given Benadryl.

“I think she’s internalizing a lot,” she said.

Conditions at Dilly are marginally better, Warner said – inmates have access to windows and can sometimes go outdoors – but they have no privacy and are watched round the clock by guards.

The family’s lawyer is working to get the pair released on payment of a $15,000 bond.

Amelia Boultbee, a member of the legislative assembly of British Columbia, where Tania Warner is originally from, said she is urgently lobbying Canada’s federal government to help get Warner and her daughter released.

“We’re exploring diplomatic and legal avenues to have these Canadians released from detention, and I’m hoping that we take a strong stand against these illegal and unethical detentions by ICE,” she said.

But the course of action for Canadian authorities is unclear as there are few precedents of cases of Canadian families held in US detention, Boultbee said.

“There isn’t a clear template to follow, diplomatically or legally. So we’re exploring the best way … to advocate for this family and get them out of detention,” she said.

Global Affairs Canada, the federal ministry that handles consular services and diplomatic relations, said on Thursday it was “aware of multiple cases of Canadians currently or previously in immigration-related detention in the US”.

“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,” a spokesperson said. “Due to privacy considerations, no further information can be disclosed.”

Approached for comment on 20 March, ICE asked for more information about the Warner’s case. The Guardian provided that information, but four days later ICE had still not replied.