US teen held in Colombia after wrongful deportation

A teenage girl from Dallas, Texas, deported by mistake to Colombia by United States authorities is being held by Colombia in a detention facility, reported Texas news station Channel 8 .

In December 2011, U.S. federal authorities got an address for Jakadrien Turner and the U.S. Embassy officials asked police to collect her but Colombian authorities are now holding her in a detention center and won’t release her.

Jakadrien Turner, ran away from home in November 2010 and was arrested in Houston in April 2011. The 15-year-old gave the police a false name which happened to be that of a 22-year-old Colombian illegal immigrant with arrest warrants pending.

She was deported by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to Colombia. Colombian authorities gave her permission to work and released her.

The girl told her grandmother, Lorene Turner, that she worked in a big house cleaning and was very tired.

Lorene Turner located her granddaughter after searching for her on Facebook and with the help of Dallas Police found out she was in Colombia.

Referring to the immigration authorities Lorene Turner said “They didn’t do their work. And how do you deport a 15-year-old and send her to Colombia, without a passport, without anything?”

Jakadrien’s mother Johnessa Turner told Channel 8 she is “flabbergasted.”

The girl, who spoke no Spanish, may now be pregnant.

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