Women leave Montana town over border agency lawsuit backlash
https://www.apnews.com/419a18a5ceec4d14a0b51d85358913f7Women leave Montana town over border agency lawsuit backlash
By MATT VOLZ
HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A woman who is suing the U.S. Customs and Border Protection after an agent questioned her and a friend for speaking Spanish in a convenience store said Friday the backlash to their lawsuit has forced them to move away from their small Montana city.
Ana Suda and her family have been harassed by neighbors, strangers and even schoolchildren in the city of Havre ever since a video of a border agent questioning her and Martha “Mimi” Hernandez was uploaded to YouTube, Suda said in a phone interview with The Associated Press. One version of the video has been viewed more than 123,000 times since February.
Suda and her two children have been living with relatives in El Paso, Texas, for the past 1 ½ months while her husband — a Customs and Border Protection employee himself — is seeking a job transfer to join them.
“I can’t take it anymore,” Suda said. “Our lives are not the same, it’s not the same anymore. These guys destroyed everything we have.”
Hernandez has been living in Great Falls but still commutes to her job in Havre, said their attorney, Alex Rate of the American Civil Liberties Union of Montana.
The women, who were born in the U.S. and are citizens, said in their lawsuit that they were speaking to one another in Spanish while standing in line to buy eggs and milk in a convenience store in Havre. The agent, Paul O’Neill, entered the store, overheard them and kept them in the parking lot for approximately 40 minutes while he checked their identifications.
“Ma’am, the reason I asked you for your ID is because I came in here and I saw that you guys are speaking Spanish, which is very unheard of up here,” O’Neill said in the video.
Suda was born in Texas and moved to Montana with her husband in 2014. Hernandez was born in California and has been living in Montana since 2010. Suda did not recognize O’Neill as a colleague of her husband, nor did she say that her husband worked for the same agency.
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west of Havre (pronounced Have-er).
I am ashamed that this happened in my home state. But not surprised. 
about local ranchers targeting Hutterites. My family (my father was a local businessman) always considered Hutterites to be good neighbors.
I can speak firsthand about how much they contributed to our little community. And one of my sisters, who majored in sociology in college, also received permission to spend part of a term living with the Sage Creek Colony, was charmed by their welcoming hospitality and still has friends there, although they are now in their 60s-70s.
As for NAs, you are absolutely correct.
The Corrupt Hatemonger in the WH has a LOT to answer for. 
But these local ranchers should know much better. Shame on them! 