Hernandez said hello to O’Neal in the checkout line — and that he replied by saying she had a strong accent.

He then asked the pair where they had been born — leading Suda to ask, “Are you serious?”

“Dead serious,” O’Neal responded, according to the suit.

Suda told the agent she had been born in El Paso, Texas; Hernandez said she was born in El Centro, Calif. But that didn’t satisfy O’Neal, who “demanded that the two provide him with identification and refused to let them pay for their groceries” until they complied, the suit states.

…When one of the women asked whether they were being detained “because of our profiles,” O’Neal replied, “No, it has nothing to do with that. It’s the fact that it has to do with you guys speaking Spanish in the store, in a state where it’s predominantly English-speaking, OK?”

,,,”So it is illegal to speak Spanish in Montana?” Suda asked O’Neal.

“Well, ma’am it’s not illegal, it’s just very unheard of up here,” the agent said.

…”The United States has no official language,” the suit states. The lawsuit asks a federal district court to order the CBP not to stop or detain anyone “on the basis of race, accent and/or speaking Spanish,” unless those characteristics are tied to a specific and reliable suspect description. They also want the court to declare that someone’s race or language isn’t enough on its own to create suspicion to justify a seizure or detention. 

Americans Who Were Detained After Speaking Spanish In Montana Sue U.S. Border Agency : NPR

hmmm