After having been out in the wilds, camping and hunting in southern New Mexico with your father-in-law, and both of you are swarthy, with a week's worth of grime and facial hair, when driving home, DO NOT respond to the border patrol checkpoint's question of "are you both U.S. citizens", with "Si". No matter HOW funny you think it is. They have no sense of humor, and you will learn what the business end of a Glock .40 caliber looks like. And your father-in-law will not let you ever forget it.
This fail lesson was posted on Friday, August 5th, 2011 at 7:00 am
Racist border guards FAIL, I’m thinking. Who cares what language you’re speaking? Your passports prove who you are.
Last time I checked (6 months ago, actually), you don’t need a passport to visit New Mexico if you’re a US citizen and haven’t actually left the country.
It’s also entirely possible to be Spanish-speaking and Latino and yet also a U.S. citizen.
It’s not even all that uncommon.
Especially in the Southwest.
Check out South Florida.
Sorry, I missed the NEW Mexico.
Still frigging racist border patrol.
1) They’re US citizens within the US and not planning to leave it. Why would they be carrying passports?
2) Why would the cops draw on a suspected illegal? I think this one is fake.
Cops almost ALWAYS draw on suspected “illegals.” They also handcuff them, and take them to jail to await deportation. This is a very plausible situation.
tl dr, cops are retards
*nod*
Why did they pass through a checkpoint…do they live in Mexico? I’m confused…
Probably one of the patrols along the border looking for illegals crossing the desert.
Areas near the border have regular checkpoints across major highways. There’s one I’ve been through dozens of times on the northbound 5 between San Diego and Los Angeles.
The highways don’t have to be that major. I’ve been stopped on 2-laners in the Adirondaks. Being from Canada, I did have a passport… locked in the safe at the hotel.
It’s a good thing I wasn’t smuggling maple syrup in from Quebec or something.
Also there are checkpoints when traveling from one state to another state along major highways.
This could have definately happened. Of course a passport isn’t needed in New Mexico..however citizenship status isn’t needed for drivers licenses so border patrol officers are wary of this. Sadly the result may be unfair racial profiling.
(Which is why I got a passport)
Unfair racial profiling?
I would hazard a guess that near 100% of illegal immigrants in new mexico are mexican. As such, profiling to check, say, mexicans or other hispanics to make sure they’re legal as opposed to, say, white, asian, or black people makes sense, and it not unfair at all.
It’s unfair because there are a lot of Latino people in New Mexico who live there completely legally who shouldn’t be treated like criminals by border patrols, and picking people out because of presumed ethnicity (which may or may not be accurate) is a huge invitation for racist abuse.
This. I am of Irish, German, and Native American descent. Because of this, I have dark red hair yet I tan deeply very quickly in the summer. My birthday is in July, and I speak Spanish as a second language. I also am dead set against affirmative action and PC quotas, so I refuse to fill out any “optional” racial information. When I went to college, the admissions dept took my tanned license photo and the fact I speak English and Spanish, and decided for me that I must be Hispanic.
However, not 100% of those of Mexican ancestry or from Mexico in New Mexico are actually illegal. That’s why it’s unfair. It’s not a valid assumption.
And you’d probably be surprised how many other illegals there are, particularly since you don’t look past skin color.
This. The authorities are operating under a “most likely” scenario. If these guys were REALLY close to the border, it’s not that much of a stretch for the cops to conclude that they might be illegals. Pointing a gun at them may have been excessive, but they were within their rights to ask for identification.
And as American citizens, they are well within their rights to reply “F__k you, I don’t need to show you any stinkin’ papers!”
Great way to get thrown in jail. Maybe they have the right to do that, but it wouldn’t be a very smart thing to do. It would just make the cops more suspicious. Frankly, I don’t see why anyone would refuse to show ID if they don’t have anything to hide.
Just because you don’t have an immediate use for one right or another, does not mean that you should give it up.
Seems people are mistaken… You must show ID if asked for by a peace officer. If a peace officer asks for it, and you fail to provide it, they have the authority to take you to jail until your identity can be confirmed.
^ forgot a part. If reasonably suspected of a crime. Although what the OP did wasn’t a crime, and I think it’s funny as hell, the officers can use it as a reason.
They can use it as a reason, but it’s not actually reasonable. That’s the problem.
But not all Mexicans in NM are illegal. Hence, UNFAIR profiling.
I still not see how it is unfair to look for illegal mexicans among mexicans. How else would you find them? Ask the same amount of… I don’t know swedish just to be PC?
Unfair because; They are NOT looking for illegal Mexicans.
Their orders will most likely be along the lines of: “Arrest any illegal aliens*”
*Yes, those other aliens too…
Absolutely. Nothing they did was wrong at all. There is no requirement to have any proof of citizenship on you if you are a US citizen. They said they were citizens and it was true, they had no legal reason to stop them.
It’s true that they don’t have a sense of humor. I was on a bus tour of Mexico nearly 10 years ago and after we’d made our way back north of the border, at the checkpoint they boarded the bus. One lady had bought a very nice brass planter to bring home. When they asked her if she had purchased anything, she said something to the effect of, ‘just some pot.’ It was funny to us, until we had to wait for an hour or so at the checkpoint for them to clear her identity.
Guest you are 100% correct. It is very latina and it is very presumptive to think most are illegal immigrants when a majority of Hispanics come from old Spanish families that have been her for 500 years.
*here. By here meaning NM
Some Latinos never crossed the border… the border crossed them! This is true in Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and California. Why do you think all the place names in those states are in Spanish?
Especially fail because you answered “if”. The word you were looking for is “sí”.
You know… there is a good chance that they can’t type accents online. I know my computer doesn’t let me.
And which computer do you have, b/c both my Mac AND my PC let me.
There’s also copy/pasting.
Now, I’m not pedantic enough to care about the lack of accent, but to say that using it may not be POSSIBLE, I gotta call BS
Wouldn’t it be cheaper to just make Mexico a state?
The objective is to keep the people in mexico OUT not welcome them in. If we keep letting people in willy nilly, it’d cause more strain on our economy and healthcare systems.
RACIST!!!!!!!!!!
New Mexico is a state of the union. They don’t have an international border except WITH Mexico. I call this a fake.
It’s not a fake. There is border patrol even I’m Truth or Consequences. Let’s say illegal drug smuggling went on. What if that got past the Mexico/U.S border? They could still get caught in other border checks.
Border Patrol carries the HK P2000 in .40 S&W, they don’t carry Glocks.
I was born and raised in New Mexico. I knew several life long American citizens who did not speak English. Ignert Border Agents.
Fake. BP agents deal with Spanish-only full citizens on a routine basis. That alone would be nowhere near sufficient. Officer brings that in, the only basis being a reply in Spanish, officer is on paid suspension this time next weel.
It’d have been funnier to say Oui.
+ 9 001
Vous avez raison m’sieur,10/10 !!!!!
New Mexico has several border patrol checkpoints located well within the state, as do Arizona and Texas. Try being of Italian heritage and spending any time in these places. I get harrassed by border patrol sometimes, but my brother was on a bus from NY to California and the BP woke him up from a nap and ordered him off the bus into a line up. It wasn’t until the bus pulled away and he yelled out “Hey, WTF are you people doing?” in his charming Upstate NY accent that the BP realized what a douchy mistake they’d made. Plus, huge portions of NM, AZ, TX CA populations are made up of Hispanics who can trace their lineage in those areas to before those stated were part of Mexico, which makes our claim to them as US territories look like a footnote in a history book. These people have ancestors who went to bed Mexicans and woke up Americans, and THEY had ancestors who went to bed Spaniards and woke up Mexicans, so Spanish is kind of what we speak in this part of America, whether born to it or relocated. Plenty of people East of the Mississippi don’t even know New Mexico is a state, which makes traveling with a NM license a ridiculous hassle (if you from New Mexico, why does this license have a US seal, and why isn’t it in Spanish?). Anyway, “smile and say Si” was something we told each other to say to BP as young drivers, so don’t feel too dumb. We’ve all had the urge to mess with Imagracion.
Try being an Arab in a airport and getting greeted every time by soldiers with massive assault rifles.My name isn’t even Arab ‘tsshk.Must admit the French border force does have courage bringing soldiers to handle 15 yr olds who look slightly Arab and speak with a slight accent.
There are Border Patrol Agents in all 50 states. And the Border Patrol doesn’t issue Glock handguns, and never has. Simply saying “Si” would not be a reason for an Agent to draw a weapon, these are highly trained Federal Agents. Stop being ignorant.