A Canadian mother and daughter who spent more than two weeks detained at an immigration facility in Texas have been released from custody after posting bond of $9,500 US. 

Tania Warner insists she and her seven-year-old daughter, Ayla, are living in the United States legally after moving to Texas to be with Tania’s husband, a U.S. citizen, four and a half years ago.

She said the judge decided they are not a flight risk. Warner said her immigration lawyer was able to argue that she had filed all the necessary documents and had been given approval by the federal government to legally extend their stay in the United States.

They now have several hearings to determine if they can stay in the U.S., or if they will be deported.

Stopped at mandatory checkpoint

Warner and Ayla were taken into custody on March 14 at a state border patrol checkpoint in Sarita, Texas, while on their way home from a baby shower. 

She said they have been through similar checkpoints many times before without issue, and did not expect to be detained.

Warner, who is originally from Penticton, B.C., was going through the process to get a green card, which required her to spend thousands of dollars and undergo a criminal record check, but her husband says she kept her immigration paperwork up to date. 

Warner and Ayla were first held in a processing centre in McAllen, Texas, but were later transferred to an immigrant detention centre for families in the state.

Warner said she has been appalled by the conditions in the facilities and that the families she talked to had all been attempting to follow proper channels in their efforts to live in the United States.