PORTLAND, Maine (AP) A court document indicates the U.S. Border Patrol’s suspicions about a family were aroused because of their “Central-American” appearance and because they spoke Spanish while shopping in Bangor, Maine.
An attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine on Monday called the conduct outlined in the Border Patrol affidavit “textbook racial profiling.” Emma Bond said people shouldn’t be approached by agents based solely “on the color of their skin and the language they’re speaking.”
The incident last month happened at a Goodwill store in Bangor. A member of the family, 31-year-old Mateo Carmelo-Bartolo, of Guatemala, was detained after he admitted to being in the country illegally.
His lawyer declined to discuss the case. A New England spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection also declined to comment.
