Juan Carlos Garcia is a 30-year-old Hispanic American who was born in the United States and is a natural born United States citizen. He reads and understands English but speaks with a heavy accent. Because of his Hispanic appearance, the police decide to pull him over for further investigation (even though he has not violated any traffic laws). When the police question him and find that he speaks with "a heavy Spanish accent," the officers decide to demand that he prove his citizenship to them or they will detain him for further investigation of illegal entry into the United States. Can the police pull Juan Carlos over and demand that he provide them with proof of American Citizenship if he committed no crime and had not violated any traffic laws? What amendment(s) apply?
Answers
The United States (Spanish: Estados Unidos) has 41 million people aged five or older who speak Spanish at home,[3] making Spanish by far the second most spoken language of the United States. Spanish is the most studied foreign language in the United States,[4] with about six million students.[5] With over 50 million native speakers, heritage language speakers, and second-language speakers, the United States now has the second largest Spanish-speaking population in the world after Mexico[6] although it is not an official language of the country.[7] About half of all American Spanish speakers also assessed themselves as speaking English "very well" in the 2000 US Census.[8] That increased to 57% in the 2013–2017 American Community Survey.[9] The United States is among the Spanish-speaking countries that has its own Academy of the Spanish Language.[10]