establishment of citizenship in order to get services, the fact that the questioning centered around a specific nationality/origin would indicate a serious equal protection violation.

Write down names, dates, place of business, etc. Then document and call!

What's also strange, this is not a small local health care organization. It's a major Hospital, health care, insurance provider in Utah. They are all over around here. No small bananas.

at a particular facility.

The point is that when stuff like this happens, it's important for an organization like the ACLU to address it, publicize it, and make sure it serves as an example to all businesses.

It's not the usual set of questions - but this is 2012 and the crazies have gone crazier!

What kind of world are my kids up against? If we don't fight this kind of thing, it could be the '50s all over again.

And anyone who was not white had to sit at the back of the bus.

maybe not.

Even if true, why limit it to hispanic? Wouldn't they require it of everyone?

This seems very wrong to me. Another poster suggested calling teh ACLU and just asking about it. That sounds like a good idea.

I'm so ...I don't know the word...that I probably would've asked them why they wanted to know that, if it was for medical reasons or what.

Just as a curiosity...is there a large hispanic population in Utah? If so, that surprises me.

This particular location is just an insta-care, like an emergency room only not emergency.

It is definitely wrong and I will look into it.

I didn't ask on the spot because I didn't realize what had happened until I heard the second response. When they asked me that question, I was sure they were going to ask a bunch of other similar questions just for general information, records, whatever. When they didn't, all I was thinking about was, hmm.. what was that about? and also getting my daughter settled down. Maybe they just needed to move on. It wasn't till the second family was asked the question that I realized, something was not right. My next impression was whether to confront them right there or take care of my daughter and think it through. I think that sometimes it's better to make sure you're barking up the right tree first, and that's why I'm asking these questions here. It's not that I don't already know it is seriously wrong but how I should play the hand.

...a lot of clichés tonight.

Yes there is. This town is about 60% Mormon and 35% Catholic. The Catholic population is a a large part Hispanic. The Hispanic population has probably doubled in the last 8 to 10 years, just my guess. There are almost no blacks in Utah but that is changing. The Mormons have been very protective of the "neighbourhood" over the last 150 years due to their doctrine which is pretty exclusive of non-whites. They have gotten better in the last few years in that regard but not in what I would call a natural way. I don't want to get on the Mormon discussion... I have said enough about that in other posts. This isn't the place.

The only ID I needed was my insurance card. They didn't ask for a drivers licence or anything else. Maybe the other guys didn't have an insurance card. On the other hand they wanted picture ID for proof of citizenship. Why didn't they just ask for picture ID? Maybe the desk clerk asked too much? You see it could be argued in a couple different ways and then they could just say they needed ID and it wasn't for citizenship. It gets ambiguous when you think about it.

I do know what she asked for though, and that was ugly.

Not ethnicity or race in general, but hispanic. I have NEVER been asked that in my life.

I think it's obvious they're trying to weed out non-citizens, which they have a right to do. But they don't have a right to single out patients by appearance or focus on one ethnicity. They could change the question to, "Are you a citizen?" or simply require a picture ID.

Actually, EVERY medical care provider I've ever been to has required a picture ID. At least they ask for it when they ask for your ins. card. I don't know what happens if you don't have a driver's license.

the three demands of the Montgomery Improvement Association, lead by Martin Luther King, Jr. were
" 1) a guarantee of courteous treatment 2) passengers to be seated on a first-come first-served basis, the Negroes seating from the back ; and 3) employment of Negro bus drivers on predominantly Negro routes." p. 109 Stride Toward Freedom

It could be a recent law. I imagine a health worker would only ask that question if she had to by law.