Americans Who Were Detained After Speaking Spanish In Montana Sue U.S. Border Patrol

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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.

In the footage, CBP Agent Paul O'Neal is seen telling one of the women, "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."

When it was posted last spring, the video raised new questions about the Trump administration's methods for carrying out a crackdown on people who have entered the U.S. illegally from the southern border. Suda and Hernandez say the agent had no cause to detain them; they accuse the CBP of violating their rights against unreasonable seizure and equal protection under the law.

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The two friends have lived in Havre for several years, working as certified nurse assistants at a local medical center and raising their children in Montana, according to their lawsuit. They say they had left work, gone to the gym, and were waiting to pay for their milk and eggs when Hernandez said hello to O'Neal in the checkout line — and that he replied by saying she had a strong accent.

He then asked the pair where they had been born — leading Suda to ask, "Are you serious?"

"Dead serious," O'Neal responded, according to the suit.

Suda told the agent she had been born in El Paso, Texas; Hernandez said she was born in El Centro., California. But that didn't satisfy O'Neal, who "demanded that the two provide him with identification and refused to let them pay for their groceries" until they complied, the suit states.

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