몬타나 거주 미시민권자 두명, 쇼핑중 스패니쉬 언어 쓴 이유만으로? US Border Officer에게 붙잡혀 있었다네요

작년 5월에 일어난 일이네요

캐나다 국경을 마주한 몬타나에서 일어난 일이었답니다.
 

US Border Officer가 주유소에서 우유와 계란을 사던 미 시민권자 두명을 스패니쉬 언어을 썼다는 이유로 40분간 억류했다고 하네요.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection 상대로 federal lawsuit 을 했다고 합니다..

어떤 특별한 이유가 있어 단속하여 억류를 시켰는지는 모르겠지만 동영상에 나오는 보더 오피서 말로는 it’s because they were speaking Spanish 라고.....

혹시 이 뉴스에 대해 잘 아시는 분 계신가요?

Martha Hernandez, left, and Ana Suda in front of the convenience store where they were detained by a U.S. Border Patrol agent for speaking Spanish in Havre, Montana, on Jan. 23, 2019. The women have filed a lawsuit against the government and the border agent.Brooke Swaney / ACLU of Montana via AP file

Suda told NBC News shortly after the incident in May that O’Neal approached her and Hernandez after overhearing them speak Spanish while buying eggs and milk.

"He asked us where we were born, so I looked at him and I said, 'Are you serious?'" Suda said at the time. "He said, 'I'm very serious.'"

He then asked the women for their IDs, and the three went outside the store into the parking lot, where Suda began to record the incident on her cellphone.

In the video, Suda is seen asking the agent why he was asking the women for their identification.

"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," the agent, who identified himself as Agent O'Neal, said in the video.

When Suda asked if she and her friend were being racially profiled, the agent responded no.

"It has nothing to do with that," he said. "It's the fact that it has to do with you guys speaking Spanish in the store, in a state where it's predominantly English-speaking."

Suda said that the agent took their IDs and kept them in the parking lot for about 35 to 40 minutes.

Suda was born in El Paso, Texas, and Hernandez was born in El Centro, California, according to the lawsuit.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/2-american-women-detained-after-speaking-spanish-montana-file-suit-n971716