News & Commentary

The American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Montana, and law firm Crowley Fleck PLLP filed a federal lawsuit today on behalf of two American citizens detained by United States Customs and Border Protection for speaking Spanish while shopping at a local convenience store in Havre, Montana.

Illegal arrests and seizures reflect an out-of-control agency emboldened by Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda.

Thanks to your support, we did a lot in 2018! Here are some highlights from the past year.

The ACLU of Montana has asked Secretary of State Corey Stapleton to take proactive steps to ensure that every qualified voter has access to the ballot box in 2020.

In January 2017, after traveling nearly 90 miles to cheer on their children, Brandy and Elsworth GoesAhead, Whitney Holds, and Emerine Whiteplume — known as the Pryor Four — were denied entrance to the Reed Point gymnasium by Athletic Director Teresa Bare. Waiting outside the school in cold winter weather, the Pryor Four knocked on the door seeking entrance.  Ms. Bare opened the door for another individual and announced, “we don’t have any workers yet, so we are only letting white people in.” Read more about their lawsuit. 

Over the past sixteen months, many Americans have grown used to the Trump administration’s racist and xenophobic immigration policies. After all, Trump’s presidential campaign was built on the promise of an unnecessary southern border wall. In Montana, we may feel insulated from those anti-immigrant policies. Nothing could be further from the truth.

I was traveling along HWY 12 to Helena from Missoula. My coworker was driving our rental vehicle, and we were headed there for meetings. About five miles outside of Avon, a Montana Highway Patrol car driving in the opposite direction made a swift U-turn in the middle of the highway after passing us. The patrol car’s lights flashed. We knew we were about to be stopped.

El pasado miércoles, dos residentes Estadounidenses de Montana fueron detenidas e interrogadas por agentes de la Patrulla Fronteriza después de que él las escucho hablando en español en una gasolinera en Harve. El agente dijo: “La razón por la que te pedí tu identificación es por entré aquí y vi que ustedes estaban hablando español, lo cual es muy raro por aquí.”

On Wednesday, two Montana residents and U.S. citizens were detained and interrogated by a Border Patrol agent after he heard them speaking Spanish in a Havre gas station. The agent stated: "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."