Mom of deported teen runaway files federal lawsuit

  HOUSTON -- 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.

(Copyright ©2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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Runaway reindeer corralled after running around on Gulf Freeway

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- There was a strange sight along the Gulf Freeway Wednesday -- two reindeer who look like they belonged at the North Pole, not in southeast Texas. But there was a simple explanation -- they escaped from a trailer owned by one of Santa's helpers.

His name is Joe Moorman, but his occupation is Santa Claus. From the beard to the reindeer -- five tiny ones.

The reindeer getting all the attention however are Comet and Prancer, who might well have gone to that Santa workshop in the sky.

It happened, in all places, during rush hour on the Gulf Freeway when the door to their trailer slid open in traffic. Moorman was behind the wheel.

"Someone pulled up beside us and blew the horn and waving the horn and telling us we had animals loose," Moorman said.

When we asked Moorman how his heart took it at the time, he replied, "Well, my heart didn't do too well."

As his heart sank, something remarkable happened; people stopped traffic, got out of their cars and tried to corral Comet and Prancer.

Cody Casteel saw a man and woman running after them.

"Taking off her high heels, trying to catch them and the guy was behind her and right when we pulled up they started eating and we pulled their leads," said Casteel.

The Webster Police Department was flooded with calls reporting reindeer loose on the freeway.

In one phone call, the caller said, "Sir I am traveling on I-45 north. I am just by Baybrook Mall. There are two loose reindeer on the highway."

The dispatcher replied, "And ... there's two loose reindeer on the highway?"

The caller then told the dispatcher, "Yes sir, I know that sounds funny but they are."

The police chief says they were flooded with calls, and admit they initially thought it was a joke but quickly found out, these reindeer needed help.

It ended in a park and ride lot. The reindeer remarkably were not injured and made their scheduled appearance Wednesday at a school. But it has Santa reflecting on the gift he was given.

"I mean God was with the reindeer and he takes care of fools and things that can't take care of themselves," Moorman said, laughing.

Call this a Christmas miracle? Santa/Joe Norman does. And so do Comet and Prancer.

You can read more about the runaway reindeer in the Bay Area Citizen, of our Houston Community Newspaper partners.

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