The story of the two women arrested for speaking Spanish in the United States

Ana Suda and Martha Hernández they chatted nonchalantly while they were queuing up to pay for the parking lot until the officer at the Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Paul O 'NealHe heard them and stopped them immediately. The reason: to speak in Spanish.

What was it it arrived on May 16, 2018 in Le Havrein the state of Montana, only 70 kilometers from the Canadian border. Before stopping them, The policeman asked where they were born. Suda, Texas; Hernandez, California, that is to say in the United States, but that did not even make him reconsider his decision. He acknowledged it, he admitted later, simply because, in this city, it was not normal for people to speak a language other than English.

Now, almost nine months later, Suda and Hernandez sued O & # 39; Neal through the United States Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the largest human rights organization in the United States, violated his constitutional rights.

Cluck Wofsy, an attorney from the ACLU of Montana, said the event was "devastating for them" and added that their clients "felt themselves banished, humiliated, not welcome in their city, in their homes. country".

The NGO also recalled in a press release that "speaking Spanish is not illegal, in fact, there is no official language in the United States because Americans speak hundreds of languages. "

Once released, after a short time, Hernández had a tragicomic episode at another place. The cashier, originally from Mexico, asked him not to speak Spanish with another friend because he could be held under the name of "the two ladies …". Martha left him speechless: "Do not worry: one of these women, that's me." And he kept talking. Now, in addition, justice is waiting.