So, as we surmised last evening, things weren’t exactly as they had seemed with the deportation of 14 year old Jakadrien Turner. She was apparently deported in 2010 after giving authorities a fake name and maintaining that name even after she was aware she was being deported to Colombia. But the largest mystery is exactly how the family found her and why she did not come forward earlier. A CNN article from today says
Then, to the family’s surprise, they learned their teenage daughter was in Colombia, partying with men and smoking marijuana. They later learned from a detective that Jakadrien is pregnant.
The family learned that she was in Houston, using the name “Tika Cortez” by following her on Facebook. Then, they noticed that her Facebook profile changed to say that she was living in Colombia. But the deportation described just doesn’t match.
Usually, the DHS checks more than just the name a person gives when deciding to deport them. If the owner of the alias was already deported before, the DHS will have a picture and their fingerprints, along with detailed biographical information given by the individual when she is arrested. If a person like Jakadrien gives the fake name, the DHS then checks its database to match the picture, match the biometrics, and match the biographical information. If she was actually deported, unless something more sinister is going on, it is as if the DHS did none of these things. The family says it “doesn’t make sense,” and that’s exactly right. DHS, or someone, has a lot of explaining to do.