A middle school teacher from San Diego refused to answer a question from a border patrol agent regarding her citizenship because she saw it as racist.
The entire incident was recorded by her family member and has since gone viral. The teacher stated that “enforcing racist laws perpetuates institutional racism.”
(Story from Breitbart)
According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, Shane Parmely was driving in New Mexico when she was stopped at a border patrol check point by an officer of the law. The following then transpired:
“Citizens?” an agent asked her as she drove up to the checkpoint.
“Are we crossing a border?” Parmely responded.
“No. Are you United States citizens?” he repeated.
“Are we crossing a border?” Parmely repeated. “I’ve never been asked if I’m a citizen before when I’m traveling down the road.”
As the agent continued to repeat his question, Parmely told him that he could ask her the question, but she didn’t have to answer.
“You are required to answer an immigration question,” the agent said. “You are not required to answer any other questions.”
When Parmely refused to answer the question, the agent told her that she was being detained for an immigration inspection.
“So if I just come through and say, ‘Yes, I’m a citizen,’ I can just go ahead?” Parmely asked.
“If the agent is justified by the answer, then yes,” the agent responded.
“So if I have an accent, and I’m brown, can I just say, ‘Yes,’ and go ahead or do I have to prove it?” she asked. “I have a bunch of teacher friends who are sick of their kids being discriminated against.”
“OK, I’m not discriminating against anybody,” the agent said.
Video of the incident:
