‘We take US ID.’ Circle K clerk refuses woman’s Puerto Rico ID card in Colorado

Ruth Caraballo couldn’t believe it when a Circle K clerk in Boulder, Colorado, refused to accept her driver’s license to purchase cigarettes Thursday, KCNC reported.

“I gave her my ID, and she told me she could not accept a Puerto Rican driver’s license, just U.S. IDs,” Caraballo said, KMGH reported.

“I explained to her that Puerto Rico is part of the United States,” she said, according to the station. “A Puerto Rico driver’s license is a U.S. ID. She told me she could not accept it.”

Puerto Rico has been a U.S. territory since 1898, and Puerto Ricans have been U.S. citizens since 1917.

Caraballo, a U.S. citizen who now lives in Puerto Rico but previously lived 10 years in Denver, called Boulder police for help, KCNC reported.

Audio from an officer’s body camera obtained by the station records the officer trying to tell the clerk that a Puerto Rico ID is a legitimate form of identification, according to the station. But the clerk insists Circle K does not accept Puerto Rico ID cards.

“I’m American, and it feels like somebody discriminated against me because of my nationality,” Caraballo said, who says she only wants an apology from the chain, KMGH reported. “It makes you feel really bad.”

In a statement to the station, Circle K says it is “re-evaluating our age verification policies to help ensure there are no further instances where an individual might inadvertently be denied the ability to make a purchase from our store(s) due to their form of identification.”

A similar incident took place in November when a student trying to buy some cold medicine had his Puerto Rico ID refused at an Indiana CVS store, McClatchy News previously reported.

“She said I needed a visa,” said Jose Guzman Payano, an engineering student at Purdue University. “I tried to explain that Puerto Rico was part of the United States. I didn’t need a visa or anything. She just said the same thing three times.”

CVS said in a statement the clerk would be retrained on acceptable forms of identification, McClatchy News reported.

This story was originally published February 24, 2020 at 3:13 PM with the headline "‘We take US ID.’ Circle K clerk refuses woman’s Puerto Rico ID card in Colorado."