This is how NBC 7 San Diego reported the event (with video):

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 US 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.

At first, George was sanguine about the traffic stop. He told the reporter

“We didn’t think we had anything to worry about.”

However, when agents approached his car wearing masks, he questioned their rationale.

“Who does that? Criminals do that. Robbers and thieves do that. Kidnappers do that. And that’s what we’re seeing by our own government.”

Esmeralda was concerned enough to start recording the encounter. At which point, the agents lowered their masks. Which makes you wonder why they were wearing them in the first place. The Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agent explained why they had stopped the Doilezes.

“The reason why we’re stopping you is because you did U-turns and there’s a known alien out in the area.”

In the video, George can be heard telling the agent that he and his wife were avid campers, “exploring” on their way to the dentist. This caused the agent to offer unsolicited advice on the appropriate way for citizens to go to medical appointments.

“If you have a dentist appointment, it probably wasn’t the best decision to be out in the middle of nowhere.”

George pointed out that he thought he was living in the land of the free.

“We have the right to travel anywhere we want to travel.”

The agent confusingly replied by both agreeing and disagreeing with George.

“You’re absolutely right you do, and I actually have the right and authority to stop you.”

George then wondered if the agent was following a racist policy

“Why are we not allowed to be here? Because we’re not white? Our skin doesn’t match?”

In the video, George can be seen showing the agent his ID but refusing to get out of his car. At which point, Border Patrol called for a K-9 unit. The dog detected marijuana. This prompted an agent to say they now had probable cause, and he would arrest the couple if they did not get out for a full search of the vehicle.

After the search, an agent told the couple that he could seize their vehicle and ticket them for having the marijuana, but that he would let them off with a warning. However, by then, George had proved he had bought the weed legally. So the agent had no grounds for writing a pot-possession ticket or warning them about anything.

I’ll warrant his sham magnanimity was a psychological salve for a man who knew he had screwed the pooch.

Predictably, CBP denied that racism was involved. The agency maintains that the agents had noticed George’s vehicle:

“exhibiting suspicious driving behavior consistent with illicit cross-border criminal activity.”

Adding: “This incident concerns a lawful stop based on reasonable suspicion of criminal activity. The claim that the stop was based on racial profiling is baseless.”

This self-serving cant has all the validity of an MLB batter calling his own balls and strikes.

George reacted as all of us would when stopped and detained for 30 minutes by armed men. He told NBC 7 he was:

“Terrified, terrified, absolutely terrified. 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?”

Welcome to America’s incipient fascist state, George. He added:

“This place is controlled by goons in masks in unmarked vehicles chasing down American citizens just because of the color of their skin. Nobody should be afraid of their own government. They’re here to protect, to serve, not to be pirates.”

However, while I feel for George and Esmeralda, they were the agents of their own terror. They both voted for Trump — in 2020, and again in 2024.

However, let’s welcome them back to the side of light. Both stated they regret their vote for Trump, not just because of their own experience. But because they told the reporter, they’ve watched his mass deportation effort unfold in immigration court and at workplaces, and seen that the majority of people Trump’s Brown Shirts have detained do not have a violent criminal record.

George reflected on his poor choices.

“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. He lied on those and he stole our vote.”

Two years ago, George nearly died in a workplace accident. Esmeralda told News 7 that the thought crossed her mind that she could have almost lost him again.

“I did think that there might have been a chance, I remember sitting there crying, thinking like, ‘Oh, my God, if this happens, what’s going to happen? I’m going to see something bad. I don’t want to see that.'”

“We already went through something traumatic two years ago, so, you know — we don’t want to see something else even worse. I feel sad this is where we’re at. I can’t believe this is where we’re at.”

Both said they felt the need to record and speak out to raise awareness.

George: “Do not comply, because complying is going to get you in a prison concentration camp. That’s what it’s going to do eventually. Maybe it might be sooner than we all think.”

Esmeralda: “We can’t let them take our rights.nThen we’re nothing.”