A Winnipeg-born man says a mail delay is the reason he’s back in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody, just five weeks after a federal judge in California ordered his immediate release.

Now, Clayton Herman says he must wait for the proper paperwork from both American and Canadian officials to be eligible to enter Canada should he be ordered to deport. 

“This is just surreally horrible,” Herman told CBC on a video call from inside the Adelanto, Calif., ICE detention facility on July 22, the day after he was taken back into custody.

“It’s just a lot of duress to be under.”

Herman — who has not been convicted of a criminal offence — was put in shackles inside an ICE office on July 21, when he went for a routine check-in as his case winds its way through the U.S. immigration system.