General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsQuestion for Spanish speakers on X. This is a phone interview with a man who claims his sister, her toddler,
and her mother, were detained by immigration because they'd been speaking Spanish in a store. After they were taken to detention, they were able to produce documents and were released.
Snopes is saying that this was reported by Telemundo, and they haven't been able to confirm it.
The interview posted on X is conducted in Spanish, and the translation isn't the best. What do you think of the man's account?
Link to tweet
Toddler, mother and grandmotherall American citizenswere detained and taken to Milwaukee immigration detention center after they were overheard speaking Spanish.
English subtitles have been added to news interview a family member gave Telemundo Puerto Rico.
If the mother had not been able to produce 2 forms of identification for all 3 family membersincluding original birth certificatesthey could have easily been deported on the next plane to Columbia.
Add shopping at the department store to the list of places where it's no longer safe to speak Spanish.
FROM SNOPES:
https://www.snopes.com/news/2025/01/30/puerto-rico-family-detained-spanish/
I don't think the fact that this witness is hard to locate is surprising. Why would they trust the system not to penalize them for coming forward?
PoindexterOglethorpe
(27,032 posts)Was a woman and her children really taken into custody just for speaking Spanish? Why do I feel like there's something missing in this story, or that some information has been left out.
If they're going to detain people just for speaking Spanish in public, the other half of the population is going to have to be enforcers of "English Only".
pnwmom
(109,691 posts)alleging that they had been detained just for speaking Spanish. And they had video of the incident. So it's not unheard of.
Through the ACLU, the women brought their lawsuit against CBP and won an undisclosed financial settlement.
Ana Suda and Martha "Mimi" Hernandez American citizens who were born in Texas and California, respectively were questioned as they attempted to buy groceries in Havre, Mont., last May. They captured video of the encounter, which began inside the Town Pump gas station and convenience store. In all, they were detained for some 40 minutes.
https://www.npr.org/2019/02/15/695184555/americans-who-were-detained-after-speaking-spanish-in-montana-sue-u-s-border-pat
Through the discovery process, ONeill also handed over a number of inflammatory and racist text messages confirming his anti-immigrant bias. Watch the video.
As if the racism they experienced at the hands of CBP agents were not enough, our clients also bore the brunt of local backlash as a result of coming forward. They both ultimately left Havre for fear of their families safety, said Caitlin Borgmann, executive director of the ACLU of Montana.
We stood up to the government because speaking Spanish is not a reason to be racially profiled and harassed. 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, said Suda. No one else should ever have to go through this again.