A video circulating on conservative channels shows a Black American woman from Washington State saying she got so frustrated at a McDonald’s drive-thru where employees apparently could not take her order in English that she called Immigration and Customs Enforcement for the first time. Whether you agree with her choice or not, the clip taps into a raw feeling among working Americans who expect basic service and common-sense standards in places that advertise they serve the public.

This is not an isolated flashpoint — similar episodes keep popping up across the country, where customers say they felt shut out by language barriers and managers who shrug it off. In one widely reported April 2025 case, a customer at a Taco Bell in Hialeah said she was denied service and posted video footage online; the corporation later issued an apology and offered a gift card, a response many conservatives see as tone-deaf and weak.

Americans remember the viral 2018 incident in New York where a customer threatened to call ICE after workers and patrons spoke Spanish in a Midtown eatery — a viral moment that exposed how fraught language and immigration have become in everyday interactions. Those episodes galvanized both sides: outrage from those who saw intolerance and alarm from folks who say public spaces should operate in a common language.

Here’s the plain truth: assimilation and the primacy of English are not cultural punishments, they are the glue that holds a sovereign nation and a free market together. Businesses that hire employees who cannot perform the basic duties of the job — including taking an order in English when the establishment primarily serves English-speaking customers — are failing their customers and their communities, and corporate PR apologies are no substitute for accountability.

Patriotic enforcement of the law is not xenophobia; it is the defense of a system that rewards merit and adherence to the rules. If companies want to avoid these confrontations they should vet hires, require the skills needed for the job, and make it clear that being able to serve the public in English is a legitimate job requirement — while lawmakers should stop pretending the border crisis and lax enforcement have no consequences for everyday Americans.

I searched for mainstream corroboration of the specific Washington McDonald’s incident and found the clip being discussed on conservative outlets and channels, but I could not locate broad national reporting that verifies every detail of the account as described in that upload. What is undeniable, though, is the pattern: Americans are fed up with double standards and business responses that protect corporate image over customers’ rights to be served. Based on what’s publicly available, this story is part of a larger national conversation that demands common-sense solutions, not sanctimony.