'I Was Asked If I Stole My Car': Black Diplomats Describe Harassment At U.S. Borders

In April 2018, Tianna Spears joined the State Department, looking forward to the promise of a fulfilling career. Then 26, she had spent three years learning Spanish in the Dominican Republic and Spain to help land a position in the Foreign Service.

"I was super-excited to start," she says. "I had dreams of being a diplomat and living in several places in Latin America."

Spears' first posting, in October that same year, was at the U.S. Consulate in Ciudad Juarez, just across the border from El Paso, Texas. Everything started off well, she says, and she quickly settled into her new life and job. Spears would often cross back into the U.S. to shop or meet friends for coffee.

But she quickly noticed a trend: When she made those border crossings, she was regularly pulled over by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers for secondary inspection.

Spears is Black. She is one of a growing number of current and former minority foreign service officers to speak out recently about the special challenges they face as diplomats.