Americans Who Were Detained After Speaking Spanish In Montana Sue U.S. Border Agency

  • 📰 NPR
  • ⏱ Reading Time:
  • 1 sec. here
  • 2 min. at publisher
  • 📊 Quality Score:
  • News: 4%
  • Publisher: 63%

United States Headlines News

United States Latest News,United States Headlines

'I saw that you guys are speaking Spanish, which is very unheard of up here,' an agent told two women in a convenience store. The two friends were born in California and Texas.

 

Thank you for your comment. Your comment will be published after being reviewed.
Please try again later.

So.. if they WERE in US illegally - I know - unpopular question: but does reaching Montana or Colorado, read 'interior states,' mean that it's Out of America's Hands? Are we playing tag and capture-the-flag with immigrants, now? Home base is 486.7 miles into US and you're safe?

Where do the agents think “Montana” comes from?

They should transfer those custom officials to Miami.

Montana=montaña=Mountiain. Any more explanation?

CBP agent needs a medal! He did the right thing! Suck it up and be thankful he was doing his job!

So let’s be clear...speaking Spanish is a crime? Huh, What? 😎

VickiJo54203063 U.S. Customs and Border Patrol ought to be ashamed of themselves 😠

PrincessBravato Now that's as American as apple pie and racism.

PrincessBravato Spanish is awesome and I am ashamed I am not fluent (i am partial) I live in Ca ffs- grew up in Central Valley lots of nice folks to practice with

So, is it time to remove foreign language as a credit requirement in high school since its now illegal to speak publicly?

They were detained for 40 minutes. They were not placed under arrest. A foolish border agent made a mistake. They were wronged, but is this a multimillion dollar civil rights violation? I doubt it.

I hope you get every last dime they will ever have

rhonda_harbison Good!♥️👭

As they should

Good, and I hope they prevail!

oufenix What have we become that anyone is arrested for speaking something other than English. No mas

Detained 60 seconds.... to show an ID, like at every airport or bank? This is a huge imposition? Get a life.

This is ridiculous.

I overheard a French speaking family at Williamsburg. That’s a long way from the border. I was happy they were visiting. Who knew I should have alerted CBP...

As they should

There's a monster on the loose

AbolishICE

I mean ... I spoke Danish in America for years! .. but Scandinavians are white, so I wasnt met with this awful attitude... 😪

Good. Draaaag their asses.

aclu needs to change its name. Many homeless citizens have tried to talk to them about putting together a class action lawsuit against CA and its sanctuary stance. Many citizens outside in the cold, with no funds for food. CA is tormenting its citizens to aid and abet illegals.

TheCarlWeathers Caucasian bikini clad women at the beach are never detained and questioned as possible Swedish nationals. So weird.

Good I hope more people start suing CBP and ICE

So is Agent O'neil still on the job? What is his first name?

Freedom of Speech only applies to English.

KevinCarson1 I stand sith them.

Fuck white nationalism & drumpf.

lawprofblawg I know I'm wrong for saying this, but if I was a Border guard I would totally stop that girl on the right and ask her, not for her papers, but for her number. That librarian look just slays me. Um... Which is not to excuse police state tactics whipping up xenophobia

Lexual__ This is so sickening.

Good for them! I hope this starts a trend for legal pushbacks.

When we were in London, there were so many different languages and no one stop anyone there for not speaking English where the OG came from. stopbeingracist moveforward weareAmerica alreadyacointryofdiversity notgoinganywhere

Hope they get a huge settlement, that is the only way this agency is going to start paying attention to their hiring practices. The detainng agent is either incompetent or plain racist.

Welcome to the paranoid state that is Trump

This is the USA, speak English.

And my Caucasian granddaughters are both studying Spanish in a Canton Michigan high school

ICE is quickly evolving into an American Gestapo. It scares me and saddens me as well.

Disturbing. TL

Racial profiling needs to been called out and reprimanded..it is wrong and I believe illegal plus you have the right to speak any language in this country. America is a multi-lingual nation. This is the hate that this administration has brought, horrifying

The United States of America is the second largest Spanish speaking nation in the planet. Get used to it.

Interesting, as when I lived in D.C. I talked to a Border Patrol that patroled the Canadian border who said more illegals came across there than the Mexican border and never mentioned needing to speak only English for those who crossed.

... respect us or pay for your racism.

They should ask for $25 billion in punitive damages.

?Que pasa Montaña?

My God. If they'd been speaking Arabic, would they have have been shot on sight?

They weren’t detained just for speaking Spanish. Once again NPR is lying—showing their liberal/Dem point of view.

Good! That’s outrageous. America...the only country in the world where speaking more than one language is frowned upon. Everywhere else...a sign of intelectual ability. 🙄

Good for them. This situation is out of control.

I swear, if I’m ever by Border Patrol, I’m going to start speaking in Klingon.

...and Montana is a Spanish word.

Good.

urracing2 Really? Are people speaking in a Montanan accent detained in New York City? Perhaps Spanish is not one of the most spoken languages in the US? M'Lord, provincialism isn't dead after all

What’s next, a wall along the southern border of Montana?

I hope these ladies win their case. What happened to them was uncalled for.

How do you say 'I'm rich thanks to your stupidity,' in Spanish?

High school Spanish teachers, beware!

Good. However searching for accountability in this cabinet is like trying to find a needle in a hay stack.

I better brush up on my French so that I can run around in stores saying “oui oui”... I’d gladly take money from a lawsuit

Sue the *hit out of them until they're bankrupt.

How is this not a violation of Freedom of Speech? And if they were speaking French or Swahili would they have been detained?

Congrats people of Montana! Doctors, nurses, and technicians thinking about moving to your state to help serve your community have now crossed your state off the list for blatant acts of racism This message is in English so you’re not confused about a shortage later.

More importantly, why are we paying CBP/ICE to hang out in convenience stores harassing and profiling patrons, so far from the southern border. Don’t tell me ... they’ll want a wall along the Canadian border next!

Easy money buying babble and headed for Montana.

Provincial paranoid attitude that becomes alarmed at hearing Spanish -- no matter where you are in this country.

I wonder if all of South America started detaining people for speaking English. People need to read History books. ALL THE HISTORY BOOKS. And know which people this country really belongs to. The Mexicans. Their forefathers. Read the history of our country.

The fact it's 'unheard of' for people to speak Spanish in Montana kind of negates the idea that we're being overrun by undocumented immigrants. But somehow it's a national emergency. Why do people fear imaginary problems & ignore real ones?

Why isnt Trump detained for talking out of his ass

What a joke

Good thing these jagoffs don't show up in the Steel City and arrest people for speaking Pittsburghese n'at.

Welcome to dystopian America! Our cancer in chief has awoke our ugliest side.

Should Americans speak the “native” language? How about Iroquois? Dîné? Lakota? If you can’t speak these languages you should STFU about whatever languages people in America use to communicate in public, private or anywhere. We are a pluralistic nation. Racism must go.

So, French is ok.....

Spanish spoken in Montana? The end is nigh . . .

There are idiotas everywhere, including the WH

Name and shame the arresting CBP “officials.”

I hope they get a huge settlement.

So my tax dollars are paying U.S. Customs & Border Protection to harass people for not speaking English. I feel safer already.

I guess Russian or German are ok.

I thought I loved the country in which I was born, I was wrong.

ICE and border agents be patrolling around and unlawfully detaining people based on their ethnicity like.....

The name Montana comes from the Spanish word Montaña, which in turn comes from the Latin word Montanea, meaning 'mountain', or more broadly, 'mountainous country'

How Is This Normal?

Good. I hope they win a huge settlenient.

As they should

Welcome to Trumps America 🤥🤥🤥

nyc_erik So great!

Now I am really wanting to relearn Spanish, becoming fluent as I can, before making a trip to Montana. I would love to see an agent try to ask my 6'2', 250 lbs., veteran ass about my immigration status. Their apoplectic fit at my resfual would take any detention after worth it.

Permission to act out your inner racist granted by the president

Let's hope they win, and put them on notice!

No way should taxpayers be responsible for the actions of this agent.

Unfreakingbelievable! Muy estupido...

they're right

To see this happening is just disgusting. The xenophobia is unreal.

it's funny the racists are so upset by people speaking a european language.

Welcome to Trump's American paradise -- the land of the free unless you speak Spanish! The only emergency we have -- Constitutional crisis created by Trump who behaves as he a king and not a president., What other branches of the Government are waiting for to stop this crisis?

What's next? Am I going to be detained for being a Southern Black far away from the South? While using words like Ain't and Y'all!

Awesome!!! I hope they learned a good lesson

Trump's Nazis at work.

Good !

I would have have asked them by the way they are dressed. Looking for a free ride. They are Democrats

“F” NOOO!!!

Somebody's MAGA hat has been constricting blood flow to his brain. Too bad he has a badge to hide behind.

No warrant, no probable cause, no reasonable suspicion for cryin' out loud. Under what authority is CBP/ICE making these (unlawful) detentions? Hopefully this lawsuit will allow the plaintiffs to collect damages directly from the named officer(s) as well as the government.

Good

Sorry you had to endure his racism and he should lose his job Glad that the ACLU is with you

Unbelievable! Shame on agent Paul ONeal.

Glad I wasn't detained for teaching Spanish in small-town Indiana . . .🤦🏼‍♀️

Good. Hit that government lotto ladies.

It blows my mind ppl don’t realize the US has no official language and yet, want everyone to speak English anyway racism profiling ridiculous

I wonder if my Sicilian family would be harassed by the same cop? I doubt the cops involved know different languages.

Awesome! Sadly, I knew this was going to happen sooner or later. Wonder if they'd deport Spanish tourists for this or if Europeans would get different treatment.

Hasta la Victoria en 2020, siempre!

Funny how I'm not worried about being detained in Mexico for accidentally speaking English

What is the national language of the United States? Oh yeah! Their isn't one. I would assume then that what these people endured should be considered discrimination then. Golly; that sounds illegal.

Alexa play: This is America 🤦🏻‍♀️

Speak English in the United States of America 🇺🇸

As they should!

We have summarized this news so that you can read it quickly. If you are interested in the news, you can read the full text here. Read more:

 /  🏆 96. in US

United States Latest News, United States Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

Americans Who Were Detained After Speaking Spanish In Montana Sue U.S. Border Patrol'I saw that you guys are speaking Spanish, which is very unheard of up here,' a CBP agent told two women in a convenience store. The two friends were born in California and Texas. Pay 👏 Them 👏 Their 👏 Money 👏 Good I'm sure there was more to the story than that. Stop race baiting NPR.
Source: NPR - 🏆 96. / 63 Read more »

2 American women detained after speaking Spanish in Montana file suitACLU files federal lawsuit against US Customs and Border Protection on behalf of two American women who were detained after speaking Spanish at a convenience store in Montana. Fake. It was a set up. Tell me again why did Congress approve more funding for Trump’s Gestapo? This is all too much
Source: NBCNews - 🏆 10. / 86 Read more »

Montana women were detained by Border Patrol for speaking Spanish, lawsuit saysIn video, the agent said he asked for ID because 'I saw that you guys are speaking Spanish.' The women, both citizens, were held for 40 minutes. I imagine anyone in MT who uses the word ‘Taco’ is prolly looked at funny... Don’t mess with Border Patrol Agents More FrivilousLawsuits . Thrown out.
Source: latimes - 🏆 11. / 82 Read more »

Montana residents who spoke Spanish and were asked for ID are suingTwo US citizens who were asked last year by a US Border Patrol agent for their identification after he heard them speaking Spanish in a Montana convenience store are suing the federal agency and the agent sue them for everything they have. They should be deported instead.
Source: CNN - 🏆 4. / 95 Read more »

Two U.S. citizens claim in lawsuit that feds detained them for speaking SpanishStanding in line at a convenience store in Montana, two women claim in a lawsuit filed by the ACLU that they were approached by a border agent and were detained unlawfully. Greg Abbott: Pardon Black Woman Imprisoned for Voting - Sign the Petition! via Change Have you found Ruth Bader Ginsburg yet ? Hope they get a nice settlement
Source: washingtonpost - 🏆 95. / 72 Read more »

A border patrol agent detained two U.S. citizens in Montana because they were speaking Spanish, ACLU lawsuit says'The reason I asked you for your ID is because I came in here and I saw that you guys are speaking Spanish,' the agent says in footage of the incident. Jesus Christ! BP agent: I saw that you guys are speaking Spanish, which is very unheard of up here” Me: what’s the name of your state mean in English? This stuff needs to stop.
Source: Newsweek - 🏆 468. / 52 Read more »

Russia Detains American Founder of Private-Equity firm, Further Straining U.S. TiesRussian authorities detained the American founder of a private equity group on suspicion of fraud, an incident that could rattle potential foreign investors and add to already strained ties between the U.S. and Russia. When are folks going to realize traveling to Russia or China is a terrible idea? Billbrowder deja vu RedNotice Globalization isn't looking like so much fun anymore. I think everyone should go home and stay home!
Source: WSJ - 🏆 98. / 63 Read more »

U.S. Congress advances border security bill without Trump border wallThe U.S. Congress on Thursday aimed to end a dispute over border security with legislation that would ignore President Donald Trump's request for $5.7 billion (£4.45 billion) to help build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border but avoid a partial government shutdown. Late on Wednesday, negotiators put Its going to happen. That's why he was elected. ElectionsHaveConsequences THAT will get Trump reelected. Not a fan of his but that wall needs to be built as a component of total immigration control that EVERY PRESIDENT & EVERY national candidate has PROMISED for decades No, neither party wants it The citizens do though
Source: YahooNews - 🏆 380. / 59 Read more »