After a Border Patrol agent questioned two US citizens in Montana because they were speaking Spanish, legal experts are now recommending that naturalized citizens, legal permanent residents, and undocumented individuals carry identification with them in the event that it is requested by authorities. While the women were able to demonstrate to the officer that they were US citizens and were not arrested, many immigration advocates found the encounter disturbing. Jaime Barrón, an immigration attorney in Dallas, Texas, says that “simply speaking in another language cannot be an illegal act, that could be discrimination.”
Read moreUnivision: “In Trump era, immigration lawyers recommend everyone carry ID, no matter your status”
The New York Times: “Forced Searches of Phones and Laptops at U.S. Border are Illegal, Lawsuit Claims”
Two civil rights groups filed a lawsuit last week against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on behalf of eleven people whose cellphones and laptops were confiscated or searched at the nation’s border. The lawsuit alleges that their First and Fourth Amendment rights were violated when their devices were seized and searched without a warrant. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed the lawsuit for these eleven individuals, which includes ten American citizens and one permanent resident. These individuals, a journalist, student, US military veteran, artist, and NASA engineer, among others, hope that the lawsuit will force courts to place limits on the agency’s broad authority to search all travelers entering the country, including US citizens. The lawsuit argues that the current laws in place that established rules for searching luggage for all individuals (unless exempt by diplomatic status) regardless of nationality should not apply to electronic devices such as smartphones, tablets, and laptops because these types of devices contain immense amounts of personal data and information.
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