WASHINGTON — Edward Warner says every day has felt like a nightmare since his Canadian wife and her seven-year-old daughter were taken into custody at a United States border patrol checkpoint in Texas last week.
He told The Canadian Press he was travelling home from a baby shower Saturday with his spouse Tania Warner and her daughter Ayla Lucas, who has autism, and had to stop at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection checkpoint in Sarita.
They’d gone through the checkpoint many times before without any issues.
“We had all our documents with us,” he said. “She had her work visa, her Texas state driver’s licence and her passport with her.”
A border patrol agent took the documents but returned around 10 minutes later, he said, and told Tania that she would need to be fingerprinted inside the facility.
Another 15 minutes later, he said, the agent told him Ayla would also need to be fingerprinted.
Mother and daughter never returned to Edward’s vehicle. He said he was told only that they weren’t legally allowed to be in the United States.
He was left to drive alone for an hour to their home in Kingsville. He didn’t hear from his wife until she made a brief phone call the following morning.
“They’re scared, they’re stressed out,” he said. “They were telling me about the sleeping situation and the food and everything like that and it all just seemed so horrible.”
Tania Warner is from Penticton, B.C. and met her husband through TikTok about five years ago. The long-distance romance quickly blossomed after she visited Edward in Texas.
Six months after that trip, Tania moved to Texas. Another six months passed and the couple — he’s a tattoo artist, she’s a fitness and nutrition coach — were married.
They had a quiet and loving life, the husband said. Tania was going through the process to get a green card, which required her to spend thousands of dollars and undergo a criminal record check.
Edward said his wife has no criminal history and has kept her immigration paperwork up to date. He said he still hasn’t been told why his wife and Ayla were taken into custody.
“I have no idea what’s going on,” he said.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has not yet responded to a request for comment.
The mother and daughter were held in the Rio Grande Valley Central Processing Center in McAllen, Texas after their apprehension. They were transferred to the immigrant detention centre for families in Dilley, Texas on Friday.
That facility has faced controversy over reports of worms in the food, poor medical care and lights kept on around the clock.
The mother and daughter were given the option to self-deport, Edward said, and were told that if they accepted they would be moved to a more comfortable facility.
“I think that’s why they leave the lights on all night and give them space blankets and everything like that,” he said. “I think they want them to self-deport because it’s less paperwork or something.”
That’s not an option for them, Edward said.
“I need them just as much as they need me.”
He said that now that his wife and stepdaughter have been moved to the detention centre, he is hoping to receive more information about why they are being detained. He said their lawyer should also be able to finally get access to the mother and daughter.
He has started a GoFundMe account to help cover their legal fees.
He said the detention has been especially hard on Ayla — the changes to her regular life structure have led to stress and meltdowns.
Edward said he has been in contact with the Canadian Embassy in Washington.
Global Affairs Canada said in an emailed statement that the department “is aware of multiple cases of Canadians currently or previously in immigration-related detention in the U.S. and has received requests for information and assistance from individuals and their family members.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 20, 2026.
Kelly Geraldine Malone, The Canadian Press
