Women detained by Border Patrol for speaking Spanish

Montana Television Networks has reported that a Havre woman and her sister were detained for more than a half-hour at a Havre convenience store for speaking Spanish.

The report said that Ana Suda, who was born in Texas and moved to Havre, stopped with a friend to buy some milk and the two were speaking Spanish when a U.S. Border Patrol agent asked them for identification. She recorded the interview by the agent, which is posted on the KRTV website.

The Havre Daily News was not able to find contact information for Suda other than her Facebook page. She had not responded by printing deadline this morning to a Facebook message request for comment from the Havre Daily News.

“Border patrol just stopped us because We were speaking Spanish inside of a store … ,” she posted on her page. “I recorded him admitting that he stop us just because were speaking Spanish, no other reason. Remember do NOT speak Spanish sounds like is illegal.”

A spokesperson for the Border Patrol iterated the authority of agents.

“Although most Border Patrol work is conducted in the immediate border area, agents have broad law enforcement authorities and are not limited to a specific geography within the United States,” the spokesperson said in a statement emailed to the Havre Daily News. “They have the authority to question individuals, make arrests, and take and consider evidence.”