7-year-old child arrested by ICE along with Canadian mother, stepfather says they have legal status till 2030

Ayla Luca, a seven-year-old Canadian child, originally from British Columbia, has been arrested by the ICE along with her mother and sent to a notorious detention center in Texas.

They have been told they would be released if they self-deported, according to reports. Luca is autistic and came to the US five years ago when her mother Tania Warner married Edward Warner, a US citizen. Edward said they have legal paperwork with validity till 2030. They are traumatized, Warner said adding that his wife was whispering in the phone so that officials could not overhear their conversation. "She says she’s traumatized … They’re not good. She said the border patrol agents are just absolute pieces of sh**," the husband said, adding that Ayla developed a rash in the detention.

The family lives in Kingsville, Texas, and were driving home from a baby shower in Raymondville on 14 March when they were stopped at a border patrol checkpoint in Sarita. Tania's cousin Amber Sinclair told the Guardian that Tania has a social security card and a functional visa. The family is now raising money to pay for legal help. Vicente Gonzalez, a Democratic congressman for Texas’s 34th congressional district, said in a statement that his office was working for the family’s release.

“Tania has a work permit and is part of the fabric of our Kingsville community; she nor her daughter Ayla, a 7-year-old with autism, should be in detention,” he said. “We must bring them home and reunite yet another family being ripped apart by this Administration’s rogue immigration enforcement operations,” he said.The mother-daughter duo were initially held at Rio Grande Valley Central processing center in McAllen, Texas, but were moved early on Friday the Dilley immigration processing center in south Texas.

Dilley is notorious for outbreaks of disease, poor medical care etc. It was originally opened under Barack Obama and was shuttered during Joe Biden. It reopened in early 2025 to hold detained families together. 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.”