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Border & Immigration

Three Deported Teens Back in San Diego

By Amy Isackson / Border Reporter
Published June 17, 2009 at 12:45 PM PDT
This story was published more than 14 years ago.
Amy Isackson

Three Deported Teens Back in San Diego
Three undocumented minors who were arrested on the way to school in San Diego last month and deported to Mexico have been allowed back into the United States. As KPBS Reporter Amy Isackson explains federal officials have allowed the teenagers to come home on humanitarian parole.

Deported Teens Return Home

Three undocumented minors who were arrested on the way to school in San Diego last month and deported to Mexico have been allowed back into the United States. As KPBS Reporter Amy Isackson explains federal officials have allowed the teenagers to come home on humanitarian parole.

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Stephanie Jimenez and Mauricio Villanueva say they planned to meet at the Old Town trolley station the morning of May 20th to catch the bus to school.

Mauricio says he arrived first. A Border Patrol agent in plainclothes questioned him and detained him.

Stephanie says the same happened to her.

The two, they're boyfriend and girlfriend, found each other at the Border Patrol Station. They were deported to Tijuana together.

Their lawyer, Lilia Velasquez, says federal officials violated the procedure for deporting minors.

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"I think that's why the government decided it was best to bring the students back to the United States, make sure they have their day in court and they can pursue whatever course of action they may be entitled to."

San Diego Border Patrol supervisor Daryl Reed says agents obeyed the rules.

He says they routinely work at transportation hubs to find illegal immigrants.

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Border & Immigration ImmigrationTijuana
Amy Isackson
Amy Isackson was the border reporter at KPBS from 2004 to 2011. She covered breaking news and feature stories on California-Mexico border issues and immigration, for local and national broadcast. Amy got her start in public radio by pitching a series of stories about rural New Zealand - horse dentistry and sheep sheering - to Radio New Zealand's "Country Life" program. She then worked with Peabody Award-winning radio producers Nikki Silva and Davia Nelson, to help create the Sonic Memorial, a series of stories on the World Trade Center before, during and after 9/11. Amy's work has been recognized with awards from the Associated Press Television-Radio Association of California and Nevada, the California Chicano News Media Association, and the San Diego Press Club. She won the Sol Price Prize for Responsible Journalism in 2009 from the Society of Professional Journalists for her story about high school students smuggling people and drugs across the U.S.-Mexico border. Prior to venturing into the wonderful world of public radio, Amy worked for Yahoo! Inc. for nearly five years as an editorial surfer, associate producer and broadcast communications manager. She majored in Latin American History at Williams College. She grew up in San Diego and made frequent trips south of the border.
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