meaning - "Despite the fact" implies knowledge of said facts

I had an argument about the phrase "despite the fact". The argument was around the headline:

US Immigration officials deport 14 year old runaway to Colombia, despite the fact that she's American and speaks no Spanish.

When US Immigration officials deported her they did not realize she was American and that she speaks no Spanish.

One of us took the side that this title was misleading because it implies that Immigration officials knew she was American when they deported, which they did not. The other took the side that this is a perfectly acceptable usage of "despite the fact" and that the title uses a common and acceptable usage of the phrase and is therefore it is not misleading.

Is this title misleading or not?

Answer

The headline does not state whether the officials knew of the girl's citizenship, but this can't be attributed to the choice of despite the fact that. The information about their knowledge would be clear if the headline read:

US Immigration officials deport 14 year-old runaway to Colombia, despite the fact that they know she's American and speaks no Spanish.

I'd say the headline lacks information, I wouldn't necessarily call it misleading.