African American Girl Deported To Colombia
WFAA of Dallas reports that an African American fourteen-year-old, Jakadrien Turner, was deported to Colombia, after running away from her Dallas home. She had run away after family problems began to occur.
She reportedly gave a false name upon being arrested by Houston Police Department, a name which ended up being for someone who had a pending deportation order. WFAA reports:
There are still many unanswered questions about how an African-American girl who speaks no Spanish is mistaken for a foreign national. Immigration officials are investigating and released a statement late Tuesday.
“ICE takes these allegations very seriously,” said ICE Director of Public Affairs Brian Hale. ” At the direction of [the Department of Homeland Security], ICE is fully and immediately investigating this matter in order to expeditiously determine the facts of this case.”
ICE officials also noted there have been instances where ICE has seen cases of individuals providing inaccurate information regarding who they are and their immigration status for ulterior motives.
This follows a 2010 case in which a Houston-area Chicano was deported out of Jim Wells County, Texas after being pressured to sign documentation.
These cases seem to be related to programs like Secure Communities and 287(g), which have been opposed by many human-rights, ethnic and immigrant-rights activist in Houston. These programs were ended in Maricopa County, after abuses by Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
Locally, elected officials like Sheriff Adrian Garcia continue to support such policies.
