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The girl apparently fooled the Colombians -- she was apparently working in Colombia - at a call center where it would seem they'd want her to speak Spanish. The Colombian government gave her legal papers and Colombian citizenship.
Plus the girl had access to computers and Facebook - and so her friends. It doesn't sound like she was ever making any attempt to return home, the grandmother is who was trying to find out about her.
In a way it's an arrogance of Americans to believe that the only country anyone could ever want to live in is the USA, it doesn't even seem the girl was running away from anyone in Colombia, only in the USA. I think the family doesn't want to accept that even though she had run away from them before, that she was running away from them again.
US teen deported to Columbia could soon return *| ajc.com (http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/us-teen-deported-to-1291641.html - broken link)
According to the Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the girl was enrolled in the country's "Welcome Home" program after she arrived there. She was given shelter, psychological assistance and a job at a call center, a statement from the agency said.
All good points.
She's obviously pretty good at fooling people. I mean, she got a job at a call center despite not being able to speak a lick of Spanish. That's pretty damn amazing.
But overall, someone between the United States and Colombia should've been able to see that she's a freekin' fraud, isn't Hispanic, doesn't speak a lick of Spanish, and has the sense God gave a rock. In other words, she's the typical dumbass 15 year old, and a lot of people that get paid to know better dropped the ball.
Criminal because she was charged w/ a crime, shoplifting (it is in the article)...That makes one a criminal.
Oh lord....
In the strictest sense, yes, she's a criminal. But must we "criminalize everyone that makes a dumb mistake? My goodness...she's 15 for crying out loud! Do you realize how many teens shoplift? If she lives a clean life from here on out, are we going to call her a criminal when she's 30 for something she did at 15 years old?
My own son and his friend set a bush on fire here outside of my house that damn near caught on to the house...which means arson. Arson is a crime...a felony. They were kids playing with a lighter....that's what dumb ass kids do all the time....play with fire. He's a 22 year old grad student that hasn't been in a lick of trouble since. Is he a criminal?
C'mon people...your lack of empathy is astounding. Do you guys all live in perfect worlds in which everyone can throw stones because they themselves don't live in glass houses? We all live in glass houses....some of you seem to forget that.
According to CBS affiliate KHOU, Turner ran away from home in fall 2010 after her grandfather died and her parents divorced. Her missing person report is here.
She was a good kid doing well in school, experienced some trauma, and then acted out. It also says this:
While in Colombia, Turner worked as a maid and did other odd jobs that required an English speaker. She did not speak Spanish when she arrived but wrote on her Facebook that she was going to take Spanish lessons.
So she didn't speak Spanish when she got there. She also wrote this:
She also referenced her jail time in Texas, and wrote that she was not happy in Colombia: “Well was in jail, now I’m free man an still feel like I’m loke [locked] up in this country.”
Many times, Turner asserted on her page that she was Colombian, saying in one post that she was born in Colombia, raised in Barbados, grew up in New Orleans and then lived in Dallas and Houston.
Elsewhere, Turner wrote she was depressed and lonely in Bogota, sometimes saying she longed to go back to Houston, and at other times saying she belonged in Colombia because it was her home.
Sounds like a confused, sick kid who longed to invent a new life for herself, so she lied.
And finally, there's this:
Upon her conviction, ICE says Turner was referred to them, where she continued to maintain a false identity during immigration court proceedings. The agency did fingerprints and record checks to verify that the woman was Tika Lanay Cortez, and nothing came up to invalidate her claim.
So they did fingerprint her and checked records, but obviously the fingerprint check did not come up a match, since she is not the woman. So how did NOTHING "invalidate her claim?". That is the part where I am confused.
According to CBS affiliate KHOU, Turner ran away from home in fall 2010 after her grandfather died and her parents divorced. Her missing person report is here.
She was a good kid doing well in school, experienced some trauma, and then acted out. It also says this:
While in Colombia, Turner worked as a maid and did other odd jobs that required an English speaker. She did not speak Spanish when she arrived but wrote on her Facebook that she was going to take Spanish lessons.
So she didn't speak Spanish when she got there. She also wrote this:
She also referenced her jail time in Texas, and wrote that she was not happy in Colombia: “Well was in jail, now I’m free man an still feel like I’m loke [locked] up in this country.”
Many times, Turner asserted on her page that she was Colombian, saying in one post that she was born in Colombia, raised in Barbados, grew up in New Orleans and then lived in Dallas and Houston.
Elsewhere, Turner wrote she was depressed and lonely in Bogota, sometimes saying she longed to go back to Houston, and at other times saying she belonged in Colombia because it was her home.
Sounds like a confused, sick kid who longed to invent a new life for herself, so she lied.
And finally, there's this:
Upon her conviction, ICE says Turner was referred to them, where she continued to maintain a false identity during immigration court proceedings. The agency did fingerprints and record checks to verify that the woman was Tika Lanay Cortez, and nothing came up to invalidate her claim.
So they did fingerprint her and checked records, but obviously the fingerprint check did not come up a match, since she is not the woman. So how did NOTHING "invalidate her claim?". That is the part where I am confused.
And that's the thing...she's obviously INCREDIBLY mentally disturbed. You don't even have to see her or talk to her to figure out that much.
And yet, she slipped past people that are paid damn good money to investigate these things and the ball was dropped. She told so many lies that it had to be quite simple to trip her up. Ask her what school she attended in New Orleans, or at least speak a line of Spanish. She threw up so many red flags that the agency should be embarrassed and some heads should do some serious rolling.
And yet, folks on here are calling her a criminal because she did something as innocuous as shoplifting...something that teens do all the time. So she's a bad person and deserved everything that's happened to her.
When the person involved is black it seems like things jump right into a "the individual is a bad person and at fault for their situation, do not blame us, nothing needs to change unless it involves forcing blacks to be better" mode for some folks. Not everyone, but there are enough around here that do it IMO.
Every situation gets forced into that lens whether it warrants it or not. People immediately seek to defend whomever from any blame. It should all be on the "offender".
But this is not either/or situation to me. The girl lied and has some responsibility. But it shouldn't be so easy for a minor to get freaking DEPORTED. She didn't even have to work at it. I'm sure everyone involved followed procedure, so it's not their "fault", but that does mean that we need to look at the procedure.
Do we really have a system that relies solely on the word of the immigrant? Wouldn't that be an arena where we expect people to lie? Now normally thy'd be lying to stay, but still, it seems unusual that a teenage girl could just say what she wants and no one check up on it, especially one that's not actually a Spanish speaking Columbian.
Her being black had nothing to do with any so-called jumped to conclusions that you are implying. It appears you haven't read all the details of how this happened and it is you who is jumping to conclusions as in your false claim that no one checked up on her or her story.
Criminal because she was charged w/ a crime, shoplifting (it is in the article)...That makes one a criminal.
In Colombia maybe, I don't know. But in America it doesn't. You are a criminal if you are CONVICTED of a crime, not accused of one; as well, she is a juvenile, which means her record would have been adjudicated as a juvenile offense, not as an adult felony or misdemeanor.
It appears you haven't read all the details of how this happened and it is you who is jumping to conclusions as in your false claim that no one checked up on her or her story.
First, how do you know she doesn't speak Spanish? She apparently conversed well enough with the people in Colombia.
Second, this is turning the legitimate argument on it's ear. She claimed to be an illegal alien, so we deported her. I have no problem with that, other than that we paid for her trip. Don't you think it would be a bigger problem to keep self admitted illegals here if they couldn't prove their illegal status?
Not only that but it wouldn't be far fetched for someone from Columbia to be bi-lingual. Since she would have spoken to DHS in English they would have responded in English. Why would a question come up about whether or not she also spoke Spanish?
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. That's pretty damn amazing.
