A 29 year old Jamaican woman, with two drug charges,who was released from a detention centre in Puerto Rico has avoided deportation to her homeland citing fear of being tortured. Judge Irma Lopez-Defillo had initially ordered that Nichole (her middle name), be deported, when the woman checked in with immigration authorities on Thursday, August 7, regarding her order of supervision, but upon hearing stories of her life in Jamaica as a lesbian, the judge also fearing that her sexual orientation would put her in danger if she were to return to Jamaica deferred the order based on the climate of intolerance in Jamaica.

"The general atmosphere in Jamaica is a feeling of no tolerance towards homosexuals in general,...the respondent's life is definitely at risk," the judge said.

Nichole's lawyers plan to file documents so that she can apply for legal residency as the Department of Homeland Security has the authority to deport her to any other country.

She is to report back in three months.