A California teacher said her family was detained by Border Patrol agents for an hour in New Mexico after she repeatedly declined to answer questions on whether she was a U.S. citizen.
Shane Parmely shared what took place in a series of Facebook video posts that have been viewed thousands of times.
“Basically, make sure you have a full tank of gas to keep your air conditioner running, some water and some snacks,” Parmely wrote in the first post Friday. “I also recommend a pillow cuz this was a great place to take a nap.”
The confrontation starts when Parmely and her family are stopped at the checkpoint and asked if they are U.S. citizens.
“Are we crossing a border?” Parmely can be heard saying in the video.
“No. Are you United States citizens?” the agent responded.
“Are we crossing a border?” Parmely asks again. “I’ve never been asked if I’m a citizen before when I’m traveling down the road.”
Parmely insists to the agents that she does not have to answer the question.
“You are required to answer an immigration question,” an agent said. “You are not required to answer any other questions.”
After she was told she was being detained, Parmely says, “So if I just come through and say, ‘yes, I’m a citizen,’ I can just go ahead?”
“If the agent is justified by the answer, then yes,” the agent said.
“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?” Parmely responded. “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 responded.
Parmely and her family were eventually allowed to leave, and she never admitted she was a U.S. citizen despite repeated attempts by agents.
Many people praised her actions on her Facebook page, but some criticized her and called her a “hypocrite.”
“Film yourself leaving the country!!” one of her critics wrote.
Parmely is a middle school teacher in San Diego, according to the Union-Tribune newspaper.
The Border Patrol said in a statement that if someone refuses to answer questions, the agent “may detain the driver for a reasonable amount of time until he or she can make a determination regarding the occupant’s immigration status.”
The agency said “individuals with whom we interact are treated with dignity and respect.”
