DALLAS — A Texas teenager who was deported to Colombia after claiming to be an illegal immigrant was back in the United States and reunited with her family Friday.
Jakadrien Lorece Turner, 15, was at the center of an international mystery over how a minor could be sent to a country where she is not a citizen. Her family has questioned why U.S. officials didn’t do more to verify her identity and say she is not fluent in Spanish and had no ties to Colombia.
Immigration experts say that while cases of mistaken identity are rare, people can slip through the cracks, especially if they don’t have legal help or family members working on their behalf. But they say U.S. immigration authorities had the responsibility to determine whether a person is a citizen.
