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pnwmom

(109,691 posts)
Thu Jan 30, 2025, 09:37 PM Thursday

Question 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?




3 U.S. citizens arrested by ICE after being overheard speaking Spanish.

Toddler, mother and grandmother—all American citizens—were 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 members—including original birth certificates—they 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:
We reached out to ICE, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers and local immigrant rights groups for confirmation of the story. Milwaukee Police Department said it was not aware of ICE activity in the city from Jan. 20 to Jan. 28 when Telemundo posted the story. Similarly, Mayor Cavalier Johnson's office said it had heard the story but had no specific information about it. We reached out to Milly Méndez, who reported the story for Telemundo, for further details about how the news outlet confirmed the reported events. We could not locate Telemundo's anonymous source to independently confirm the story.

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?
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Question for Spanish speakers on X. This is a phone interview with a man who claims his sister, her toddler, (Original Post) pnwmom Thursday OP
So, did that actually happen? PoindexterOglethorpe Thursday #1
The authorities aren't confirming that it happened. But in 2019, in Montana, two women brought a lawsuit pnwmom Thursday #2

PoindexterOglethorpe

(27,032 posts)
1. So, did that actually happen?
Thu Jan 30, 2025, 09:50 PM
Thursday

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)
2. The authorities aren't confirming that it happened. But in 2019, in Montana, two women brought a lawsuit
Thu Jan 30, 2025, 10:49 PM
Thursday

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.


Two women who were detained and asked to show identification after speaking Spanish in a convenience store in Montana are suing U.S. Customs and Border Protection, saying the CBP agent violated their constitutional rights when he detained them and asked to see their identification.

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

Evidence uncovered in the suit also revealed that O’Neill was a member of the now defunct “I’m 10-15” Facebook group where CBP agents joked about the deaths of migrants, discussed throwing burritos at Latino members of Congress visiting a detention facility in Texas, and posted a vulgar illustration depicting U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez engaged in oral sex with a detained migrant.

Through the discovery process, O’Neill 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.”
https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/customs-and-border-protection-settles-federal-lawsuit-american-citizens-racially

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