BROWNSVILLE, TEXAS (AP) -- A 20-year-old native Texan says she's barred from re-entering the country after she denied, under grilling by the U.S. Border Patrol, that she was a U.S. citizen.
Brenda Vazquez's attorney, Jaime Diez of Brownsville, has filed a petition in federal court in Brownsville last week.
Diez tells The Brownsville Herald that his client made the false statement in a signed statement Feb. 19 after seven hours of intimidation by a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer.
Diez says the officer then confiscated the Texas driver's license and U.S. birth certificate she presented upon her return from a visit to the Mexican border city of Matamoros.
A Customs and Border Protection spokeswoman hasn't responded to a request by The Associated Press for comment Sunday.
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