Teen mistakenly deported to Colombia
Update: Colombia to hand over mistakenly deported teen
By Ed Lavandera, CNN
(CNN) - A Dallas teenager who ran away from home more than a year ago somehow wound up deported to Colombia after U.S. authorities mistook the girl, who lacked identification, for a Colombian national.
Now her family is demanding to know why immigration authorities deported the now-15-year-old teen - a U.S. citizen with no knowledge of Spanish - and why they simply took her at her word when she gave them a fake name.
The family of Jakadrien Turner had been searching for her since she ran away in the fall of 2010. Her grandmother scoured Facebook looking for the girl, viewing Jakadrien's friends' pages for any information.
"There's no words," her mother, Johnisa Turner, told CNN of the ordeal. "It hasn't been easy at all."
Rareview: Going from U.S. soldier to U.S. citizen
By Sari Zeidler, CNN
(CNN) - Dalia Nesmith says she always felt like an American, even as she grew up in a family of illegal immigrants in the United States.
Living between Mexico and the United States, Nesmith held on to her Mexican heritage, but also to her dream of defending the United States, a country where the worries of deportation and a family torn apart were real.
By the time Nesmith joined in the U.S. Air Force, she was a permanent resident - a requirement for her to enlist. For her, the military was a call to action, she said, not the promise of an expedited path to citizenship.
Catholic program asks gay and lesbian parishioners to abstain from sex
A new program of the Catholic church in Hartford, Connecticut, minsters to lesbian and gay parishioners. It's not about their sexual orientation Archdiocese of Hartford Deacon Robert Pallotti told CNN affiliate WFSB, "it's how they act on it sexually."
The programs asks people with same-sex attractions to abstain from having sex. Pallotti said it's a support system that could help people avoid discrimination, and increase support from friends and family.
But the director of the Hartford Gay & Lesbian Health Collective says the program is offensive.
Engage: Oakland's first Asian-American mayor struggles to settle in
Engage with news and opinions from around the web about under-reported stories from undercovered communities.
Mayor Jean Quan ends a year of dramatic ups and downs - San Francisco Chronicle
Judge's ruling: South Carolina KKK shop building now owned by black church - Los Angeles Times
Americans have harder time moving up socioeconomic ladder - The New York Times
George Lucas salutes Tuskegee Airmen in 'Red Tails' movie - USA Today
About In America
What defines you? Maybe it’s the shade of your skin, the place you grew up, the accent in your words, the make up of your family, the gender you were born with, the intimate relationships you chose to have or your generation? As the American identity changes we will be there to report it. In America is a venue for creative and timely sharing of news that explores who we are. Reach us at inamerica@cnn.com.
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