U.S. to deport Canadian woman who slapped girl in ‘Trump’ sweatpants 

Kaitlyn Tracey was charged with endangering the welfare of a child, simple assault, harassment and obstruction. Photo by Handout /Ocean County Corrections

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A Canadian woman who slapped a teenager wearing Trump-branded clothing will be deported to Canada after she entered a guilty plea on an assault charge.

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Kaitlyn Tracey, 33, was living in the U.S. on an expired visa when she was recorded confronting a group of four teenage girls on the Point Pleasant Beach boardwalk in New Jersey on July 3. Two of the girls were reportedly wearing sweatpants bearing the words “Trump” and “ICE.”

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On Tuesday, a Texas immigration judge ordered that Tracey return to Canada. She was also sentenced to one day behind bars but was granted time served because she was in jail in Ocean County last month, according to the New York Post.

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The outlet added that Tracey’s defence lawyer, Francis Hodgson, attempted to paint her as a “productive member of society.”

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“She arrived here on a passport some years ago. She met her husband and didn’t leave, but while she was [here], she maintained employment and was a productive member of society,” he said.

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He added that Tracey had “taken responsibility for her role” in the incident, and “that is consistent with other similar-type matters that happen every day during the summer on this boardwalk.”

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Following the incident in Point Pleasant Beach, Tracey was initially charged with simple assault, endangering the welfare of a child, harassment and obstruction. It later emerged that she had been detained by ICE.

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The U.S. Department of Homeland Security wrote in a post on social media on July 15 that Tracey “entered the United States on April 14, 2024, on a visa set to expire on September 6, 2024. In violation of our nation’s laws, she overstayed her visa and failed to depart.”

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Tracey’s husband, who is reportedly an American man named Matthew Geroni, took to social media after the incident, posting a since-deleted video in which he said: “Yesterday, July 13, my wife was detained by ICE and brought to Delaney Hall in Newark, New Jersey.”

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Delaney Hall is a detention facility run by ICE. After a court hearing on July 13, Hodgson told Asbury Park Press that Tracey was released from the Ocean County Jail where she had initially been held. However, because ICE had a detainer on her, she was released to ICE custody.

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“My wife is a Canadian citizen and I’m an American citizen,” Geroni added. “We’ve been married for a little over three years, and I’m just doing anything I can to get her story heard and bring any help and attention to her situation so that I can get her released, even if that means back to Canada.”