Mom of deported teen runaway files federal lawsuit

May 23, 2012 at 12:54p.m.

HOUSTON (AP) — The mother of a teenage Dallas runaway who immigration authorities shipped to South America after she provided a false name has filed a civil rights suit against top federal officials claiming her daughter was illegally detained and deported.

Johnisa Turner seeks unspecified damages in the federal lawsuit filed Tuesday in Houston.

In April last year, Turner’s then-14-year-old daughter was arrested for shoplifting and identified herself to authorities as a 21-year-old Colombian national. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported the teen. She returned to the U.S. in January after her grandmother and Dallas police tracked her down.

Among defendants in the lawsuit are Attorney General Eric Holder and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

Federal officials have said they followed procedures and that the girl did nothing to indicate she is U.S. citizen.