ACLU: Speaking Spanish is not a crime, CBP.

[Nevilledog]

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[aeromanKC]

1. How about you just mind your own fucking business!!

Unless, they were breaking the law. But since they were just standing in line ready to pay for items and talking to each other it doesn't seem they were doing anything different legally than you were.

[roamer65]

2. Si, es la verdad.

Tu tienes razon.

[MontanaMama]

3. This happened in Montana.

Both women detained by CBP were speaking Spanish to each other at a convenience store and were overheard by the agent. They showed valid MT driver’s licenses. Both women are US citizens. This was a travesty. These women have since had to leave Havre, MT where they both lived due to threats to their safety by the locals. The lawyers for the ACLU have not disclosed the terms of the settlement.

https://missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/2-detained-for-speaking-spanish-settle-border-patrol-lawsuit/article_442cb3b5-dd0b-51e6-be74-58a1c8e22b32.html#tracking-source=home-top-story-1

[Maru Kitteh]

5. Jesus. I didn't know they had to leave the state. What a disgrace. nt

[MontanaMama]

6. I'm not sure they left the state

but they did have to leave Havre. But yes...a disgrace beyond measure.

[Iggo]

4. When I notice it's bothering nosy monolinguals...

...I do tend to lay it on rather thick, accent-wise.

Doesn’t happen to me all that much in and around L.A. anymore.

But out in the 909, it’s still a thing.

[LuvNewcastle]

7. What an asshole!

A lot of people who are born in America speak other languages besides English. But it isn't any of his fucking business to inquire about what their birthplace is. If he has some real evidence that they're here illegally, he can report them to the police. But he had no real evidence of anything like that. They knew English!

There should be a national law that all schools in the country teach a foreign language. It should be required curriculum for every student starting in first grade. Not only would it help students think better, it would make them less xenophobic and afraid of other languages besides English.

[MineralMan]

8. Once, in a bank in my small town in California,

a couple of French tourists were trying to do something at a teller window. They did not speak English very well at all. I was standing in line, and offered to translate for them and the teller. Nobody threatened to arrest me. In fact, things got taken care of and I was asked to have lunch with and by those tourists.

Apparently, I was the only person in that bank who could converse in French, which is shocking.

When I have been in France, there was always someone on the premises of anywhere I went who spoke English, if I needed assistance and was unable to pull together the French I needed to handle the situation.

Here in the United States, we appear to be afraid of people who speak anything but English. How sad...

[DFW]

9. The agent's accent makes me think he wasn't born in England, either

Arrest him and detain him. No way does his English indicate he is from anywhere near England, and he doesn't say that he speaks ANY American languages at all. I'd ask him if all he speaks are European languages such as English, since he doesn't even claim to speak any American languages--not Nez Perce, not Ojibwa, not Blackfoot, not Lakota, not Cree, not ANY language native to the northern plains of North America.

Don't release him until he can prove fluency in at least one language native to North America. Who cares if he knows a language native to Europe (such as English or Spanish)? This isn't Europe. Toss him in a cage!

[safeinOhio]

10. It's that time of year again