Current:Home > ScamsYes, Puerto Rican licenses are valid in the U.S., Hertz reminds its employees -Capital Dream Guides
Yes, Puerto Rican licenses are valid in the U.S., Hertz reminds its employees
View
Date:2025-04-18 15:25:37
Hertz has clarified to its employees that Puerto Rican driver's licenses are valid forms of identification for customers, following an incident in which agents of the rental car company called the police on a Puerto Rican man after demanding he show his passport in order to pick up a car.
Both Hertz and a local Louisiana police department apologized to the man, Puerto Rico resident Humberto Marchand. The incident was previously reported on by CBS News.
Afterward, Puerto Rico's representative in Congress, Jenniffer González-Colón, wrote a letter to the company's CEO urging Hertz to implement a companywide "educational campaign" for its employees.
"It is unacceptable that, more than 100 years after having obtained US citizenship, Puerto Ricans are still being discriminated against and treated like second-class American citizens," González-Colón wrote.
In a response dated Tuesday, Hertz CEO Stephen Scherr wrote that he was "disappointed" to learn about the incident, which he called "unacceptable."
The company's policy already allowed customers with Puerto Rican driver's licenses to rent cars without showing a passport, Scherr said, but it has since been rewritten to "be even more clear" about the status of Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories.
The company will emphasize the policy in communications with employees at its rental locations and call centers and add the topic to in-person training sessions, he added. "We will strive to make sure that Mr. Marchand's experience is not repeated," Scherr wrote.
On May 10, at the Hertz rental counter at the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, Marchand presented his valid Puerto Rican driver's license to pick up a prepaid reservation. According to Marchand, Hertz employees did not accept his license as a valid form of identification and asked to see a passport. He was not carrying his with him, he said, and agents ultimately denied him the car.
Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States, and Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens.
In a video recorded by Marchand, he can be heard asking an employee "Did you know that my driver's license in Puerto Rico is as valid as a Louisiana driver's license?" The employee tells him he is behaving illegally and calls the police.
Hertz later apologized for the incident. "We sincerely regret that our policy was not followed and have apologized to Mr. Marchand and refunded his rental," the company said in a statement earlier this month. "We are reinforcing our policies with employees to ensure that they are understood and followed consistently across our locations."
A police officer from Kenner, La., responded to the incident. In footage recorded by the officer's body-worn camera, the officer can be heard asking Marchand to leave.
"Maybe you can understand the words that are coming out of my mouth a little bit more clear for the third time," the officer says. "If they say you need a passport and you don't have one, and they say you need a passport to rent a car, what is your problem?"
The Kenner Police Department also later apologized. "I don't think that's the way we want to be portrayed, and he shouldn't have been spoken to in that manner," Police Chief Keith Conley said to local TV station WVUE.
veryGood! (7572)
Related
- What do we know about the mysterious drones reported flying over New Jersey?
- Key events in OJ Simpson’s fall from sports hero and movie star
- The Downfall of O.J. Simpson: How His Murder Trial Changed Everything
- Amazon's 'Fallout' TV show is a video game adaptation that's a 'chaotic' morality tale
- Which apps offer encrypted messaging? How to switch and what to know after feds’ warning
- Dennis Quaid Reveals the Surprising Star His and Meg Ryan's Son Is Named After
- The Downfall of O.J. Simpson: How His Murder Trial Changed Everything
- Prosecutor to decide if Georgia lieutenant governor should be charged in election meddling case
- The company planning a successor to Concorde makes its first supersonic test
- A piece of 1940s-era aircraft just washed up on the Cape Cod shore
Ranking
- Finally, good retirement news! Southwest pilots' plan is a bright spot, experts say
- OJ Simpson's Bronco chase riveted America. The memory is haunting, even after his death.
- Billy Joel was happy to 'hang out' with Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran, talks 100th MSG show
- A Washington man pleads not guilty in connection with 2022 attacks on an Oregon electrical grid
- Intel's stock did something it hasn't done since 2022
- Tennessee GOP senators OK criminalizing helping minors get transgender care, mimicking abortion bill
- Disney lets Deadpool drop f-bombs, debuts new 'Captain America' first look at CinemaCon
- Taylor Swift's music is back on TikTok a week before the release of 'Tortured Poets'
Recommendation
John Galliano out at Maison Margiela, capping year of fashion designer musical chairs
Woman found slain 38 years ago in California identified with DNA testing
2 inmates dead after prison van crashes in Alabama; 5 others injured
OJ Simpson's Bronco chase riveted America. The memory is haunting, even after his death.
Juan Soto praise of Mets' future a tough sight for Yankees, but World Series goal remains
Maine shooter’s commanding Army officer says he had limited oversight of the gunman
TSA found more than 1,500 guns at airport checkpoints during 1st quarter of 2024, agency says
Vice President Kamala Harris meets with families of hostages held by Hamas