Thread: Lawsuit Forces Texas to give Illegal Aliens Birth Certificates for Anchor Babies

Lawsuit Forces Texas to Make It Easier for Immigrants to Get Birth Certificates for Children

By JULIA PRESTON JULY 24, 2016



A woman and her child were plaintiffs in the lawsuit, which was settled with Texas agreeing to changes that would allow parents without legal immigration status to obtain birth certificates for their children born in the United States. CreditIlana Panich-Linsman for The New York Times

After Nancy Hernandez gave birth to a baby girl in a hospital in Texas in 2013, she went to a county office to get a birth certificate, just as she had after her first two children were born in the state.

But officials told Ms. Hernandez, a Mexican immigrant living in the United States illegally, that the rules had changed. Without valid documents, she would not be able to get a birth certificate to show that her daughter was an American-born citizen.

Last year, Ms. Hernandez and about two dozen other immigrants sued, saying they could not obtain the documents Texas officials were demanding to prove their identities. On Friday, Texas agreed to a settlement that will expand the types of documents parents can present, allowing those without legal immigration status to obtain certificates for their children again.

The babies whose parents brought the federal suit were born in Texas medical facilities, so it was not in doubt that they were citizens. Lawyers for the parents said the settlement would be “life-changing” for them.

“The bottom line is, there was a category of people who were being locked out of obtaining a birth certificate to which they are entitled constitutionally as citizens born in the United States just because of the immigration status of the parents,” said Efrén Olivares, the legal director of the Texas Civil Rights Project’s South Texas office and the lead lawyer in the lawsuit.

In the settlement, Texas made no changes to the basic rules for birth certificates, which it argued were designed to ensure that the essential documents were correctly issued. But the state agreed to accept several documents from parents that it had started to reject.

The change in practice by Texas registrars dated to 2013, when state leaders were taking steps to stem a surge in illegal border crossings by families from Central America. The next year, Texas sent National Guard troops to the border.

Texas led 26 states in a federal lawsuit in 2014 to halt President Obama’s immigration programs to shield undocumented immigrants from deportation, which state officials said encouraged more illegal crossings. A tie decision by the Supreme Court in June effectively ended those programs.

The Republican presidential nominee, Donald J. Trump, added new fuel to the debate about the children of undocumented immigrants, saying he would cancel their right to citizenship if he became president.



Efrén Olivares, the legal director of the Texas Civil Rights Project’s South Texas office and the lead lawyer in the lawsuit. CreditIlana Panich-Linsman for The New York Times

Texas county offices began to require that foreign passports presented by parents include a valid United States visa. Officials also stopped accepting photo identity cards, known as matrículas, that Mexicans obtain from their consulates in the United States. In 2013, the lawsuit said, Texas stepped up enforcement of the new rules.

Parents said they could not obtain the required documents. They had not been able to baptize their children, enroll them in school or sign them up for public health programs so they could be vaccinated. With no legal document proving the babies were their children, parents feared that if they were deported, their families might be separated or that the children might not able to return to the only country where they were citizens.

In court, Texas did not deny its policy, but said that the immigrant families did not need birth certificates to gain access to state programs. But the judge hearing the case, Robert L. Pitman of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, had signaled he was skeptical of that argument.

In a ruling in October, Judge Pitman said Texas’ claim that a birth certificate was not a vital document “simply begs credulity.”

Under the settlement, Texas confirmed that Mexican immigrants will be able to present a Mexican voter identification card. Under a recent change by Mexico, its citizens can now obtain those cards from consulates in the United States.

Parents from three Central American countries — El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras — will be able to present documents certified by their consulates.

Texas has also set up a review process for parents whose applications were rejected, as well as training for more than 450 county officials who issue birth certificates.

The judge agreed to a monitoring period of nine months to make sure Texas was complying.

Juana Gomez, 34, a Mexican immigrant without legal status, said she was relieved that her two daughters, born in South Texas hospitals, would get their certificates. Ms. Gomez, who has been living in this country for 20 years, said she had to delay their baptisms, and Border Patrol agents had demanded to see their birth certificates at checkpoints well inside the United States.

But Ms. Gomez said she decided to join the lawsuit and risk exposure as an undocumented immigrant because she was concerned that her daughters would grow up without being able to vote.

“It’s just about respecting what is in the Constitution,” Ms. Gomez said of the settlement. “I don’t think of it as just good for me. A lot of mothers are happy and satisfied.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/25/us...tificates.html

5/27/15

Texas officials refuse birth certificates for citizen kids of illegal aliens

Talk about taking advantage of the system. An illegal immigrant magnet.

Give the a CERTIFICATE OF CHILD BORN ABROAD and boot them OUT!

No eligibility for taxpayer benefits.

The Supreme Court of the Dominican Republic---which has a birthright provision in the constitution---ruled that persons "in transit" were not eligible for citizenship. This makes sense, when we consider that in the early US days foreign travelers---let's say from Canada heading south or from a European country and crossing the continent---might be traveling for months at a time through our country. So why can't the US follow the lead of another Supreme Court wrestling with the same issue?

We must stop this. We must stop this. We must stop this. These are not decisions to be made by courts. These are decisions to be made by the Congress and State Legislatures. Congress, if you don't pass the bill to stop this birthright citizenship for children of illegal aliens, then you all need to be thrown out on your ears with a swift kick in the butt.

Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Birthright Citizenship Case

United States citizenship is precious. Why do we just give it to anyone who lands on our soil. No allegiance, come legally, illegally, overstay your visa, break our laws, have a baby, and you have guaranteed yourself all kinds of goodies through the child, courtesy of taxpayers who should not be forced to pay for this foolishness.

The fact that birthright citizenship has not ended through legislation or clarification is despicable. These children should be citizens of their parents' nations, only.

The American people should start demanding that any person running for Congress make a pledge to end birthright citizenship. Illegal aliens would have much less incentive to stay without the government safety nets provided to them through children.

Democrats are effectively hopeless on the issue (future voters) but Republicans have failed us, too. We have not demanded it be ended as a priority.

States should try to do something because of the millions and billions that it can cost a state.

The Supreme Court Needs to Settle Birthright Citizenship

Texas Reaches Agreement With Familes in Birth Certificate Case

• by Alexa Ura
• July 25, 2016

Graphic by Todd Wiseman

After undergoing mediation, the state of Texas has reached an agreement with undocumented families in a lawsuit over its denial to issue birth certificates to children born in the U.S. to undocumented immigrants.

The state will clarify and expand the types of secondary forms undocumented immigrants can use to prove their identity, according to attorneys representing the group of undocumented parents and their U.S-born children who filed a lawsuit against the Texas Department of State Health Services.

Previously, immigrants in Texas could request birth certificates for their children if they had two secondary forms of ID, including Mexican voter registration cards and foreign IDs with a photo.

In the agreement, the state said it would accept voter ID cards received by undocumented immigrants in Texas by mail under recent changes to Mexican law, the attorneys said. Until earlier this year, the Mexican voter registration cards could only be obtained in Mexico.

The state also agreed to accept certain documents Central American parents can obtain from their consulates in the U.S. as secondary forms of ID if they are signed and stamped by consular officials.

Under the agreement, the list of acceptable secondary documents was also expanded to include other supporting documents, such as copies of utility bills, paycheck stubs and letters relating to public assistance benefits, according to the families’ lawyers.

"We feel confident that undocumented parents with children born here will be able to access their children's birth certificates," said Miranda van Dalen, a staff attorney with Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid.

The Texas Attorney General’s office was unable to immediately provide comment on the case and would not confirm the state had settled. A spokesperson would only say the state had reached an “agreement” with the plaintiffs.

A Friday court filing signed by Texas attorney general Ken Paxton asked a federal district judge to stay the case “in order to give effect” to an agreement between the state and the plaintiffs following mediation that could eventually lead to the dismissal of the case.

The families alleged the department violated the children’s constitutional rights by ordering local county registrars to no longer recognize Mexican consular IDs — known as a matrícula consular and issued by Mexican consulate offices throughout Texas — and foreign passports without valid visas as proof of identification that the parents may use to obtain the vital records.

The lawsuit was filed last year after Texas in 2013 barred those more common forms of ID and began requiring others that are difficult for undocumented immigrants to obtain, the families claimed.

State attorneys, who previously sought to dismiss the lawsuit, had argued those documents were susceptible to fraud and the the policy was was a way to safeguard the state’s efforts to prevent identity fraud.

“Without birth certificates, our clients lived in constant fear of having their families torn apart and their American-born children deported,” said Efrén Olivares, a regional legal director with the Texas Civil Rights Project and an attorney in the case. “They also struggled to get access to basic education, health and childcare services. This settlement will be life-changing for immigrant communities across the state.”

https://www.texastribune.org/2016/07...tificate-case/