Two women who sued the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) have reached an undisclosed monetary agreement with the federal agency after officers detained them in a Montana parking lot because the women were speaking Spanish.
Closeup of a border police officer by Michael Dechev. Shutterstock
The American Civil Liberties Union announced Tuesday that Ava Suda and Martha “Mimi” Hernandez said their rights were violated when CBP Agent Paul O’Neill held the two women outside of a store in Havre for demanding to see their licenses, according to USA Today.
Suda took a video of the May 2018 interaction in the parking lot in Havre, a city in northern Montana, the outlet reported.
“Ma’am, the reason I asked you for your ID is because I came in here and I saw that you guys are speaking Spanish, which is very unheard of up here,” Agent Paul O’Neill said in the video Suda took on her phone, reported USA Today.
The U.S. Border Patrol has commented on the case, saying that “the overwhelming majority of CBP employees and officers perform their duties with honor and distinction, working tirelessly every day to keep our country safe,” according to USA Today.
“We stood up to the government because speaking Spanish is not a reason to be racially profile and harassed,” Suda said in a statement provided by the ACLU, according to USA Today. “I am proud to be bilingual, and I hope that as a result of this case CBP takes a hard look at its policies and practices. No one else should ever have to go through this again.”