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Following Viral Video, Bus Company Says It Doesn't Deny Passage Based on Citizenship

Concord Coach Lines

A little less than one month after a video taken by a passenger showed an employee of Concord Coach Lines telling a passenger in Bangor that they had to be a citizen to ride the bus, the company has released a statement saying it doesn't deny people passage based on citizenship, and that it never has.

This happened as Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents were questioning boarding bus passengers about their citizenship.

CBP says it's legally allowed to conduct citizenship checks without a warrant within 100 miles of the border.

In the statement, Concord Coach Lines says people do not need to prove citizenship to ride the bus, and that it supports passengers' rights to decline to answer questions from the agency.

ACLU of Maine staff attorney Emma Bond says that's a good start.

“Now Concord should take steps to affirmatively make sure that their passengers know their rights,” Bond says. “Know that they don't have to prove citizenship to ride the bus. know that they can remain silence in response to CBP, and we ask that they distribute flyers.”

Bond says the ACLU has offered to provide those flyers.

This is one of several cases in the last several years, in which border agents questioned people within that 100-mile border, but not along the immediate border.

This story was originally published June 18, 2018 at 3:02 p.m ET.

Nora is originally from the Boston area but has lived in Chicago, Michigan, New York City and at the northern tip of New York state. Nora began working in public radio at Michigan Radio in Ann Arbor and has been an on-air host, a reporter, a digital editor, a producer, and, when they let her, played records.