Dallas teen missing since 2010 was mistakenly deported

[Simon_Jester]

He said that was "actually possible," not "can't possibly be true."

He said it was actually possible that they might think a black girl looks hispanic. He did not even consider the possibility that there is a such thing as a black colombian, or that black colombians are in fact quite common.

[Scratches head]

Well, I'm not sure I agree with your take on his phrasing, but I'm not going to dispute it.

I imagine Korto is thinking: "Even if the girl kept giving a false name, shouldn't they be trying to do some kind of cross-check to verify her identity? Like, trying to contact someone who might know or recognize her, like whoever accused her of the crime she's wanted for?"

If she isn't contesting the identification even after you've told her you're going to deport her, why the hell would you think it's incorrect? Under normal circumstances, if someone was erroneously identified as a criminal of the same name and subject to deportation orders, he or she would immediately object. He or she would object continuously until the moment you close the aircraft door.

As I said, we don't know that this happened; we don't know what happened at all yet. But to chalk it up to gross incompetence is premature.

Point.

I would think it a good idea, as a matter of routine practice, to always try and double-check the identity of people in your custody. At least to the extent of snapping a photo and making a few phone calls to people who you think know them, if possible. It avoids a lot of problems that are, at best, awkward for the bureaucracy.

But maybe it would be too much work; I am not an expert on the logistics of keeping people in custody.

[CaptainChewbacca]

The idea that someone would not object to criminal punishment and deportation due to mistaken identity is so farfetched that I doubt it occurred to ICE that someone would WANT to be deported.

[Korto]

Jester? Wong? I'll have to say you're kind of both right.
I did assume Colombian = Hispanic without any deeper thought. I would like to blame that on a brain-bug planted by the proceeding posts and the OP, (which not only is better than blaming myself, but has the virtue of possibly even being true).
I was, however, also trying to get across that given the wide range of how people look, I can accept that mistakes can be made. In this case, perhaps an old-looking fourteen year old gets accepted as a young-looking 22 year old.

I can't accept that a person should be deported and left in another country without some proper attempt first to confirm their identity with back-up evidence rather than just their say-so. If such an attempt was made, and no reasonable avenues were open (eg, no fingerprints on file), then I withdraw my objection.

Let's however note that the girl's attempt to run away from home was one thousand percent successful.

[SVPD]

Let me clue you guys in a little bit on how the immigration system works:

1) People from Central and South American countries can look black, white, or (most often) anywhere in between. They can have blue, green, or grey eyes. Theyc an have blond or red hair. Those are all much more rare than in the U.S., but they do happen frequently enough that, amongst the thousands of illegal immigrants apprehended, you see it regularly. It is not a matter of Brown People living south of the Rio Grande and White and Black living north. Not only does the average Mexican look diffrerent from the average Guatemalan who in turn looks different than the average Colombian, they are all averages - each country has its share of individuals with much darker and much lighter than average skin tones, with blue, green or grey eyes, and blonde or red hair. Contrary to what a lot of people like to think, the illegal immigration system has nothing to do with keeping "brown people" out - a great many Mexicans are not brown at all, and a great many of the people wanting them to be kept out, and the vast majority of those wearing Border Patrol uniforms look "brown" to the same degree... and have last names like "Lopez" or "Gonzalez." It is constantly amazing to me that people on one hand complain the issue is really about closet racism... and then turn right around and assume everyone from the Rio Grande all the way south to Tierra Del Fuego is an interchangeable "brown person".

2) This is not the Warsaw Pact. The immigration system is designed to keep illegal immigrants out, not keep people in. Millions of people are trying to get into this country illegally; almost no one is trying to sneak out. In fact, the only reasons to sneak out at all are A) you're an adult and can't afford a plane ticket so you pretend to be illegal to get a free flight or B) you're a juvenile.

If a person says "My name is so-and-so and I'm from country X and I'm here illegally" the system is going to believe them, except maybe if they claim to be from Mexico but don't look like a Mexican and don't use Mexican slang - because a lot of people from other countries pretend to be Mexican so they can try to sneak in a second time more easily. There's no reason not to believe them. This girl is the sole exception among millions upon millions of people and the reason she was able to do this was that she was trying to get the system to do what it was designed to do.

As for the warrant - it was a Colombian warrant. There's no reason U.S. authorities would have actual access to the information on it; the Colombian government would simply tell us "Yes, we're looking for a person by that name, they have a warrant." Do you seriously expect anyone to say "Well, gee, this person might actually be an underage United States Citizen lying about being a Colombian"? Why, with millions of people trying to sneak into this country would anyone think a USC would lie in order to sneak out?

[Simon_Jester]

Ah. My impression is that the warrant for her arrest was in the US, not in Colombia.

[SVPD]

If it were a warrant in the U.S., she would ahve been taken to the issuing court for resolution of that case, including punishment, prior to any deportation.

[Simon_Jester]

Thinking about it... You are right, and I was confused.