Starbucks controversy: Huge outrage as Texas woman finds 'Illegal' joke on drink lid

A Texas woman, Blanca Lopez, found an offensive message on her Starbucks drink implying her immigration status.

A woman in Texas claimed to have found a message on her Starbucks drink that she believes was a sharp dig at her background.

Blanca Lopez said the word “illegal” commented by Starbucks employee brought up painful memories of friends and family members who had been deported. (Pexels)

Blanca Lopez, along with her two daughters, went to the Starbucks inside a Target store in Irving on June 23. She ordered a horchata latte. When the drink came out, one of her daughters noticed something odd written in black marker on the lid, as per New York Post report.

The message on the lid read, “What do you call a sick eagle? Illegal.”

Blanca Lopez reacts to offensive comment

Lopez, who is Hispanic, said she was hurt and confused by the comment. She told CBS Texas “It’s basically saying that we are sick, illegal individuals that do not belong in this country."

She said she didn’t know how to respond at first. “When I read it, I’m like, OK. Was I supposed to laugh or what do I need to do?”

“Why did they call me that? Why are they asking if I have papers or no papers? Why did she write this? For me, like, it’s offensive,” Lopez added.

The joke struck a nerve, Lopez said, adding that the word “illegal” brought up painful memories of friends and family members who had been deported.

84 undocumented immigrants detained

Just months ago, in January, federal agents detained 84 undocumented immigrants in a raid across the Dallas-Fort Worth area, according to a local Fox affiliate.

After seeing the message on her drink, Lopez told the store’s manager what happened. She said the manager promised to hold a team meeting to prevent anything like this from happening again. But Lopez didn’t think that was enough. According to her, the employee who wrote the message should be fired.

She said, “I work as a manager. If someone on my team did something like that, I would fire her immediately.”

Meanwhile, local activist Carlos Quintanilla took to Facebook and informed about the protest at the store to confront the employee behind the message.

Nobody appeared for protest

The protest was supposed to happen at 10 a.m. on June 28. When no one showed, he canceled the protest but still went inside the store and streamed it live for his followers. A Target worker stopped him and asked him to leave for recording inside.

Quintanilla later wrote online, “It’s not easy to organize our community to raise their voice, I understand that protesting is already very difficult but acting is quite simple. Even Starbucks and Target have responded to our insistence to clarify their position on the offensive ‘ILLEGAL’ advertisement. Let’s suspend our protest in forgiveness and let’s Protest in Silence!”

Outside the store, Quintanilla spoke to CBS Texas, voicing his frustration with how undocumented immigrants are portrayed in the media.

He said, “It’s not just inappropriate, it’s disturbing. Especially right now, when the narrative being thrown out in mass media is if you’re illegal, you’re a criminal, and if you’re a criminal, you’re illegal.”