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Subscribe to RSSUpdated at 9:10 p.m. ET Feb. 3: The Associated Press reports that the Dallas teenager who was deported to South America under a false name never expressed concern during jailhouse phone calls that she was being misidentified as an illegal immigrant from Colombia.
More from the AP story:
The more than two dozen recorded telephone calls reviewed by The Associated Press show 15-year-old Jakadrien Turner expected to be deported to Colombia yet did not complain of having no ties to the country.
Instead, during several conversations she had with two men she identified herself as Tika Lanay Cortez and discussed renewing her green card and having her passport and Colombian identification card sent to authorities.
Yet, Turner claimed in a recent TV interview that she repeatedly tried to convince authorities she had lied when she initially identified herself to Houston police as Cortez, a 21-year-old Colombian national, after being arrested for shoplifting.
Original post: Jakadrien Turner has a message for other girls thinking about running away from home: It’s just not worth it.
Jakadrien Turner sasy she's glad to be back home in the U.S.
The 15-year-old Texas girl, who left her family, got arrested for shoplifting and then was mistakenly deported to Colombia, admits her nightmarish ordeal was partially her own doing.
"I made a lot of horrible mistakes, did a lot of things I'm not proud of," Jakadrien told Dallas TV station WFAA on Thursday.
Jakadrien's saga began when she ran away from home more than a year ago. Houston police said the girl was arrested on April 2, 2011, for misdemeanor theft in that city and claimed to be Tika Lanay Cortez, a Colombian woman born in 1990.
She was deported to Colombia in May and apparently spent eight months there before she was returned to her family in Texas.
She says she tried to tell Houston police when she was in jail that she was really Jakadrien Turner, but they wouldn't believe her.
"It's like the story of the boy that cried wolf. I've lied multiple times before. I've never been honest. I've made a lot of stories up. I made the name up 'Tika Cortez,'" Jadadrien told WFAA. "But at a certain point, I just gave up because I said it multiple times: 'I'm Jakadrien Turner, I'm 15 years old, and why am I here?'"
The girl was given Colombian citizenship upon arriving in that country, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement official has said.
According to the Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the girl was enrolled in the country's "Welcome Home" program after she arrived. She was given shelter, psychological assistance and a job at a call center, a statement from the agency said.
Jakadrien was flown back to the U.S. and reunited with her family on Jan. 6.
Jakadrien says she doesn’t want people to feel sorry for her. She just wants to share story in hopes of warning other girls of the dangers of running away.
"Hopefully my story will help them to realize that they need to go back home,” she told WFAA.
Watch the full WFAA interview.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
More content from msnbc.com and NBC News
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The stupid shall be punished!
Like you never did stupid things when you were 14! There is a reason that KIDS can't vote or enter into contracts. They have poor cause/ effect rationale, and think they are invincible.
If this was your daughter, you would be screaming loud and long at the inept agencies that couldn't be bothered to positively identify her. I told a teacher once I was Jane Russell, she checked the roster, didn't see Jane, and threw me out of the class. I thought it was hilarious.... Never occured to me that I might be sent to Hollywood! I was FOURTEEN, just like this kid!
So, you're proud of being mentally challenged?
Should we send her back to where she didn't come from before we sent her there?
And why aren't you outraged that the rednecks at ICE and the Houston PD threw a citizen of the United States out of the country as an illegal alien? You get p1ssed when they don't put catchup in the bag at McDonalds, right?
This article also tells us that Columbia has job's to spare. Probably funded by all the money we give them with no hope of ever being repaid.
Hopefully she has learned a lesson. She is very lucky that she was only mistakenly deported as Young women that run away usually are a lot less lucky.
Really? Does calling a 15 year old "Stupid" make you feel smarter?
She is by no means stupid, as she clearly knew what she was doing when she tried to lie her way out of trouble, which is a very common attribute of HUMANS regardless of their age, gender, sex, etc. The fact is, she believed once they found out she wasn't "Tiki Cortez born in 1990" (would have put her at age 21) they would just let her go and she wouldn't be in trouble for shoplifting---well it backfired in a way she, nor any other American citizen, could have ever anticipated!
Let's be honest here, there were some very serious "stupid" missteps and mistakes made by the ADULTS working at ICE who apparently base their decision to deport a child based on one statement. She tried to correct it and told them who she really was, and without conducting a thorough investigation...oh like a phone call to her Mother who could have positively identified her, they deported her! I'm absoutely sure she learned a very hard life lesson on lying, however every parent in this country should be very worried to know this could happen to their child! Geesh
A very good response by this kid! Hope others listen to her, learn from her mistakes, and take note of her previous character flaws so they are not repeated. Good effort kid.
yes but there still suing the INS according to the tv news.
N ow that she's back. Put her in jail for the offense.
What offense?
Lieing to the police is an offence stupid !!!
Lying to the police isn't an offense but failing to identify is when you're lawfully detained.
And what is it with the people here criticizing the police and ICE? SHE was the idiot claiming to be from another country. How are they to know which of the two (then three? then four?) names were truly her's, especially when she has no legal identification available? (Which, by the way, would fit the profile of someone in the country illegally.)
What about "momma, why don't you teach your kid to be truthful to the police" do you people not understand?
"admits her nightmarish ordeal was partially her own doing."
Really? Just partially her doing? It sounds like she still doesn't fully realize what she did wrong. This was totally her doing. If she doesn't see that she is fully responsible for this, she will be back in trouble shortly.
Was it her fault that ICE and other federal and local agencies couldn't cooperate enough to verify who she really is regardless of what she said? I'm not saying anymore money should be thrown into the federal bucket to fix the problem. My question is why aren't the resources already being spent be used to actually develop a process that is the heart of their scope?
Like the girl said, she acted stupidly and the results were worse than she could have imagined. Props to her for realizing and admitting it. But, it's also an indictment of our federal agencies that a stupid person could actually slip through. Also, just as easily as she slipped through the exit of the country, how many people does this flawed process allow to slip in? And don't say it's Obama's fault. According to everyone who whines about illegal immigrants, immigration was an issue long before him. There are many heads of these agencies. Are you saying that they can't come up with an idea to fix the process unless the POTUS tells them to fix the process?
how many people does this flawed process allow to slip in?
Actually, Bush said we needed them more than real American citizens. I always wondered why so many republicans said even though they disagreed with everything Bush did during his first term they were still going to vote for him any way.
And no, these agencies won't/don't fix the problem because like you see going on all over the country, republicans don't won't any one with opposing views, criticism, or first-hand experience to have a voice in the policy they're trying to push through.
"...fully responsible"? Nobody's fully responsible at age 14 - that's why it's up to adults to double check.
She is back and happy to be here. She is warning other kids don't run away......go home. I think it is good advise and hope she turns her life around.
Her situation was partially her fault? What part of it was not her fault?
anita
Being deported with out anyone knowing who she was.
She lied to everyone about her Identity, its her fault she was deported, simple as that.
Wiz, suppose the person in custody was the Columbian woman who lied and said she was American. Should they have let her stay in the US? Whatever what the person in custody says, the folks in charge are obligated to verify it.
Well HN, that's a different situation, this is about deporting someone, if they claimed to be American, of course they would ask for information to confirm.
But in this case, this girl gave the INS false information about her identity, and even Colombia confirmed that she was a Colombia citizen, So they took Colombia officials word.
I'm surprised the INS didn't investigate any further. Anybody can claim to be anybody, though I suppose if you're in the business of deporting you don't investigate very closely.
I'd have put her in jail to serve time and then deported her. Forgot the pictures of her doing her business with the men?
For most illegals there simply aren't records.
I'm curious what made them think she belonged in Colombia in particular though. Was one of her random lies that she was from there?
when the story surfaced before, She claimed to be a Colombian resident and used a stolen name. Which then Colombia officials confirmed the identity for the US and the INS shipped her out.
She said she was from Colombia, she gave a Colombian national name to INS. She deserved.
Well that was really stupid of her. What did she THINK would happen? I guess she didn't want to say her real name because she'd get sent back home, so she used the first false identity she could think of.
Who cares let columbia keep her shes not worth the trouble.
This puke of a liar/thief should of stayed longer down there and too bad they cannot do this to more of these dreggs of society!
You're saying this about a 15 year old kid? If she was white everyone involved in deporting this American child would lose their job and you would be fine with that. This girl obviously needs help and guidance. Girls run away from home, get in trouble and need help to get themselves back on track. The sad thing is that when wayward kids are not caucasian it's impossible for anyone in this racist country to muster a scrap of sympathy for them. This a kid we're talking about; A KID who got caught shoplifting, not some 40 year-old career criminal who got sent up for murder. I used to work in retail. Everyday I would see PLENTY of your lily white little darlings from well-to-do homes get caught STEALING from the store and I bet you would never consider rounding THEM up and shipping THEM to some foreign country.
You have serious issues including being racist. Why is that every time someone of color is made to take the punishment for their actions it's racist? You should of stuck to the issue of this being about a child and a flawed system. ONLY a RACIST person would divert the real issue to make it into something it's not. "Every day I would see PLENTY of your lily white little darlings from well-to-do homes get caught STEALING from the store and I bet you would never consider rounding THEM up and shipping THEM to some foreign country" what if I was to put in the words PLENT of your getto black darlings then what would you say? You would say I am a racist. Save your woe is me unfounded racist comments and stick to the facts. This girl lied, committed crimes and was made to pay for that. I'm not saying kicking a 15 year old child out of the country was the answer but paying for your crimes is a must. Ok so now report my posting or collapse it whatever. Racist won't acknowledge an opinion different from theirs any way.
She's a child, a minor. Come on get a life!
Note INS changes their name to CIS about 9 years ago.
This thief's, liar's 15 minutes were up 14 minutes ago.
Ok.. You can call turner all the names you want, the fact is she was legally a child and children lie. Hundreds of thousands of american children run away each year, mostly for inane reasons, and i'm sure nearly all if them told lies while running away. Those lies shouldn't get them banished from their own country and forced into exile, which is basically what happened. Federal officials can't just clean out our jails and prisons by arbitrarily sending felons and suspects to Mexico or Colombia or Guatemala just like the 18th and 19th century Brits used to clean out their jails and transport their own citizens to Australia.
Homeland wrongfully attempts to deport several hundred people a year, many of whom are children or mentally ill (like a mentally retarded woman, Diane Williams, in Metairie LA, who was incapable of giving her own name at a hospital from which she was taken as a result of her medical state and was deported anyway as a result, despite being a native born American).
Turner may not be an angel but this isn't about her. It's about the abuse of power by officials in a thoroughly broken government.
Let them run away or get deported. Who cares? There are plenty more where they came from.
California..And we thank them every day they sent their citizens here..and when you see what they have and what we have..thank god they did...I know where I would rather be, and it ain't Britain...
What the hell, the girl had a job, psychiatric care, and a house? Why the hell did she agree to come back to Texas?
She's very, very lucky that Columbia has this program and didn't just toss her out into the streets. But it sounds like she learned a hard lesson. Maybe, if even one other teen reads about it they will stop and think. But then again, stopping and thinking is something that teens seem incapable of doing.
The US should sue her for the manpower and fuel to deport her and bring her back!
I believe EVERY child -black, white rich or more should be killed immediately upon discovery of their crime. Further more their entire extended family along with any supporters should be killed. Their dead relatives should be dis-interned and the bodies desecrated. News of all this should be spread far and wide. Because of course once a child screws up they can't ever improve their lives and it is completely the fault of poor parenting and lousy genetics, I am grateful that the really really really smart posters to newsvine are perfect and have never so much as swiped a cookie from mom. To you, have lots of children, the kind that will never ever make a mistake and then ask the rest of us for nothing and go back under the rock from which you came. There I feel better now, how about you. Cheers!
So, we can wrongly deport people who are citizens, but we can't rightly deport people who are illegal aliens.
Am I missing something here?
No, that about covers it!
@flylowguy, yes you are missing the 400,000 illegals we deport every year, and growing.
I am surprised that she has taken responsibility for her actions. It's a good step for her. Sounds like a "scared straight" story. Now if she accepts the responsibility of her actions at the legal level then she will have made a huge leap in maturity. If she makes it that far then the only thing that would make this better would be if she talks her family out of the lawsuits and only asks that she help the system to improve the checks and balances to keep this from happening again.
A place to live, a job, and a free therapist? Well guys, I have a confession to make! I've been living a lie. I'm the real Tika Lanay Cortez! I guess this means the US will have to deport me. ;(
Columbia has a "Welcome Home" program that gives you citizenship in Columbia, shelter, psychological assistance, and a JOB?
If only more people would self-deport to Columbia...that might solve our Illegal Immigrant problem, and technically, they become citizens of Columbia when they arrive so they are not illegal anymore.
We all make mistakes and hopefully learn from them. I know you are pregnant so are u going to have the baby or put it up for adoption.
I will not be sympathetic to this "product of dysfunction" until I hear that she has earned a Master's Degree in something worthwhile
...which leaves out Law, History or Philosophy...
Other than that...we will probably see her start having welfare kids so as to make a "decent living"..
The future is hers to screw up.....
Her problem started when her idiot parents cursed her with a made up Scrabble draw name like Jakadrian.
WOW It seems that our "friends in Columbia" as Romney put it, at least knows how to deal with immigration issues. Maybe they run classes for the State Dept to attend.
Worthless piece of craps, just like her mother.
Now, she'll be a single-mother; welfare-4-life, criminal-breeding, baby-hatchery.
Baby after baby by feral baby-daddy after feral baby-daddy?
How long before she spews out baby #2, and #3, and #4 ....
And yet she, and her worthless family, want to sue.
That's all they ever do... whine and whine and whine and ask for free money and a free ride on the welfare gravy train.
Disgusting.
What do you know about this girl's mother? You probably sit in the front row of your church every Sunday, praise God for your fortunate life and the minute you walk out of there, go about your day looking down on people less fortunate than you. You know nothing at all about this girl's family. But because she's black, she is living fat off of welfare, comes from a welfare family and has 13 welfare babies. She is a runaway who got caught stealing. That is all you know. But you chose this as a perfect opportunity to use one runaway girl's story to justify your racism. If she was white would you have made those same assumptions about her? You probably would have said, "oh this poor girl has runaway from home, been living on her own for a year and I sure hope she gets her life together, the poor thing." Where the hell do you see anything in this article about her being on welfare? It's must be real nice up there on your high horse.
You're a true example of what inbreeding does to the thinking process.
they should have kept here lying a%$ down there - just one less welfare recipient we need to support. She might have made a good "mule" for some drug cartel.....................
ICE is constantly criticized for not throwing everyone they find on a plane or bus and shipping them out immediately. They finally deport someone and people are up in arms that they did it. This girl and her family should not get a dime. They set the whole thing in motion. She is home and safe. Count your blessings. Take responsibility, learn your lessons and don't use it as a way to make a buck. This is so 21st century American!