Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/05/21/two-us-citizens-detained-by-a.html
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I haz questions…
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since they were in Montana and this was border control…shouldn’t he have been listening for someone speaking French?
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Is it just me…or does he look Mexican???
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The next time I go to Montana, I plan on speaking French in front of every border patrol agent I see. I wonder how many will detain me.
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I know full well the solution from the thread about the NYC attorney…we all learn Klingon and Valerian.
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Maybe that agent should research the origin of the name “Montana.”
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Montana? They’ll think you’re speaking Italian.
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In that situation, I’d demand that the agent prove to me that he’s a US citizen.
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This is the best point, I think. You win message boarding.
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You have to wonder how many tourists are asked for papers. Or detained. Or deported. My guess that would mainly be tourists from Spanish-speaking nations, but we’ll never know. They just go home and never set foot in the US again, and tell their friends what a horrible country we have here.
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Again?
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No, they should listen for words like “aboot” and people that bitch about “American piss beer” and the superiority of Canadian “brew”. Open discussion of best hockey games of all time, especially during off season, is another clear indication of Canadianness.
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Yea, them wetbacks probly snuck across the 49th parallel.
The wet part!
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I’m sure the supposed champions of individual liberty who control all branches of federal government will be along shortly to remind law enforcment in no uncertain terms that speaking whatever language we choose is 1st amendment-protected free expression of the highest order. Just like they have with headscarves, turbans, baggy jeans, “immodest” clothing on women and people wearing clothes that don’t match their birth gender. Call them 1st amendment open carriers if that analogy works.
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I’d question how many tourists Montana has in the first place. Remember, this is a state with such low population density that drinking while driving was legal until 2005 – maintained in part on the logic that you were extremely unlikely to hit anyone on the long drive between towns.
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Pro tip: next time you’re at the border, speak only Idiocracy-style English and you’ll have no problems whatsoever.
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There will always be careers that attract authoritarians, racists, and violent egomaniacs. There is a certain element of burying our heads in the sand where we want to pretend that this isn’t true because we can find counter examples. No not everyone border agent is bad, not every cop is bad. But if you work in an institution that tolerates evil behavior and you do nothing about it, then you’re the enemy too.
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A uniformed Border Patrol agent heard them speaking Spanish to each other and demanded to see their identification.
Pendejo.
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Pinche* cabrón.
* I’ve just learned that this word, which in Mexico is a near-all-purpose cursing modifier and amplifier, literally means scullion or kitchen assistant. Language is weird.
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Classism; it’s the real root of all evil.
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At this point… are we sure the whole thing wasn’t performance art? I just… I don’t know if I can tell anymore.
Okay, sure, it’s probably not and now the Montana Border Patrol is actually stopping anyone who is off-white and pronounces “quesadillas” correctly. Because why not? If they get that far they must be headed for Canada and we can’t have that. If they get into Canada, we can’t deport them back to Mexico where they belong, and Trump will be sad. Nobody likes a sad Trump.
Arrrgh.
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