SAN DIEGO, CA (WCMH) – A California woman says she was detained for about 90 minutes after refusing to tell border patrol agents if she is a US citizen.
One of Shane Parmely’s children recorded the exchange last Friday while sitting in the back seat of the car, KFMB reported.
Parmely, a teacher from San Diego, was approached by agents when she approached an inland immigration checkpoint. The agents asked her if she was a US citizen.
“Are we crossing a border?” Parmely responded.
“No,” he said, “But are you United States citizens?”
“Are we crossing a border?” Parmely responded. “I’ve never been asked if I’m a citizen before when I’m traveling down the road.”
“This is an immigration checkpoint,” the agent responded.
“Right, but we’re not crossing a border,” Parmely said. “You can ask me, I don’t have to answer.”
Parmely told KFMB she refused to answer the questions in a show of solidarity with friends who say they have been aggressively questioned by border patrol agents.
“It’s horrifying to hear what has happened to my friends’ kids who are just brown,” she said.
“So, if I have an accent, and I’m brown, can I just say, ‘Yes,’ and go ahead or do I have to prove it?” Parmely asked the agent. “I have a bunch of teacher friends who are sick of their kids being discriminated against.”
“I have friends in San Diego who get their children harassed because emigrated from Mexico, they’re a teacher, their kids were born here, and they’re tired of it,” she continued.
Clips and photos from the exchange were posted to Facebook.
In a statement, the Border Patrol said:
Border Patrol checkpoints are critical tool for the enforcement of our nation’s immigration laws. At a Border Patrol checkpoint, an agent may question a vehicle’s occupants about their citizenship, place of birth, and request document proof of immigration status, how legal status was obtained and make quick observations of what is in plain view in the interior of the vehicle. During the course of the immigration inspection, if an occupant refuse to answer an agent’s questions, the agent may detain the driver for a reasonable amount of time until he or she can make a determination regarding the occupant’s immigration status. It is agency policy that all individuals with whom we interact are treated with dignity and respect.
Parmely said she was released after about 90 minutes. She said she never answered the question.
