Couple alleges racial profiling in Border Patrol stop they recorded on video [View all]

Source: NBC San Diego

A couple detained by Border Patrol in Boulevard said they believed agents did not have reasonable suspicion to stop them at all, recording the interaction and alleging they were racially profiled, pulled over by an unmarked vehicle as they were scoping out campsites on their way to the dentist.

George and Esmeralda Doilez are U.S. citizens who live in Brawley and were headed to a dental appointment in North County on Wednesday. They said they were exploring Jacumba and the surrounding area for the first time when a dark-colored SUV started following them near McCain Valley Recreation Area, then put on a siren and pulled them over.

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“Terrified, terrified, absolutely terrified,” George told NBC 7 on Thursday. “As a husband, you're seeing your wife, you know, shaking and crying. Your natural instinct is: I got to do something to protect her. And then what is this going to lead to? In my mind, I'm thinking of so many things, OK? If I fight these guys, I'm going to lose. I could get killed out here. But why should I allow them to trample on my Constitutional rights? Why should I allow them to get away with this kind of stuff?”

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George and Esmeralda said they both voted for the first time in 2020, and then again in 2024 – both times for President Donald Trump. They said, as they’ve watched his mass deportation effort unfold in immigration court and at workplaces, seeing the majority of people detained without a violent criminal record, they both have come to regret their votes. “I feel shame, guilt and anger at the same time because of the promises that he made that he lied to us about, going after the worst of the worst,” George said. “He lied on those and he stole our vote.”



Read more: https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/couple-alleges-racial-profiling-in-border-patrol-stop-they-recorded-on-video/3883679