There is a hilarious story on all the national media outlets about a girl who ran away from home, lied about her citizenship and ended up being deported to Colombia.
http://www.newser.com/story/136942/deported-american-teen-jakadrien-turner-to-be-returned-today.html
At first I had mixed reactions because I did not have any information that would give insight to the type of child she was (even though 14 years old is not exactly a child). As more information about this story has come out, my official reaction: HILARIOUS!!!
She is a misbehaving teenager that was trying to beat a theft charge. I guess she thought that the authorities would call her mother who would most likely give her hell for running away and getting arrested. So she got the bright idea to lie about who she was. If she had been more informed, she would have realized that claiming to be a person without legal status in the US only gets you a free one-way trip back to your home country and motherland.
The stories make a big deal about the fact that she did not know Spanish and she was interviewed by several officials. I take issue with the allegation that this is the fault of the various officials involved.
1. Her mother said in an interview that Jakadrien claimed she was this person who is undocumented but the officials should have made sure – Why would the officials believe that she was lying? If a person goes to the police station and says they committed a crime, should the police then investigate to make sure they were telling the truth? Uhhh no. They are going to book then on charges. Don’t admit to crimes you don’t commit. In this case, she was admitting that she came to this country illegally and that was not the case.
2. Her mother said Jakadrien was a 14 year old claiming to be 21 but the officials should have doubted that she was who she said she was – Children are just bigger and more mature looking these days. I have been to the high school and wondered how old they are because they look like adults. She looks to me like she is older than she is. I know if I am fooled from her picture, it is understandable that they were fooled by her in person.
3. Media outlets say she did not know Spanish which should have been a red flag that she might have been lying – Her reticence to speak was probably misinterpreted. While she was busy trying to pretend not to speak English, she should have been paying attention to what they were saying they were going to do to her. Maybe she did not know what “deportation” meant. It is at this point that she should have realized how deep she was and started asking for her phone call to contact her family. But knowing how teenagers operate, she was probably still trying to figure how she was going to get out of it on her own. Since she did not have sense to fess up, she was shipped to Colombia.
Jakadrien is not the first person to get deported because of lying about not having papers. A few months ago, a guy ended up in Mexico when he claimed to be undocumented, trying to beat a drug charge.
Oh well. On a positive note, she is definitely a survivor since she was able to get a job and support herself in a country where initially she did not even know the language. I wonder if she learned to speak Spanish. That would be one way to make the best of her bad situation. In any case, she is on her way back and MAYBE she will now appreciate US life.
In an interview on CNN, her momma has dollar signs in her eyes, trying to make her daughter to be a innocent victim in this whole situation. It is not like her daughter was six years old and clueless. I hope none of them get paid. She paid a high price for lying, but do not blame the officials for treating her based on her own admission.
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