Thread: Texas can refuse to issue birth certificates to illegals’ parents: court

Mexican IDs ruled insecure documents

By Stephen Dinan - The Washington Times - Friday, October 16, 2015

Texas officials may continue to refuse to issue birth certificates to illegal immigrant parents who aren’t able to show valid identification, a federal court ruled Friday, dealing a major blow to Mexican advocates who’d said the policy was in effect stripping them of citizenship.

Judge Robert L. Pitman said the Matricula Consular cards issued by Mexican consulates to their citizens in the U.S. — chiefly to those in the country illegally — aren’t secure, so Texas is able to refuse to accept them as primary identification when a parent requests a birth certificate.

The court said that could change if the challengers are able to offer more evidence, but for now the judge ruled Texas can continue to insist on secure documents, and to refuse to accept the Matricula Consular cards as primary ID.

“Although the plaintiffs have provided evidence which raises grave concerns regarding the treatment of citizen children born to immigrant parents, this case requires additional determinations which can be made only upon development and presentation of an evidentiary record which thoroughly explores the facts and circumstances of the issues raised in this case,” Judge Pitman, sitting in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, wrote in a 27-page order.

The case comes at a time when birthright citizenship — the automatic grant of American citizenship to most persons born on U.S. soil, including to illegal immigrant mothers — has become a hot political topic. The case doesn’t directly challenge that policy, though the plaintiffs said the effect of not being able to obtain their children’s birth certificates was the same as having citizenship denied.

Texas restricts who can request a birth certificate. Parents or grandparents are approved requesters, but must be able to prove their relationship to the child, which means establishing their identity.

That’s difficult for many illegal immigrants who have no valid American ID, but who had hoped to use the Matricula Consular cards, which the Mexican government issues to help its citizens, and illegal immigrants in particular, gain access to services in the U.S.

The cards have been controversial for years, with security experts including the FBI questioning their validity. Texas refuses to accept the card as primary identification for a birth certificate, arguing they are relatively easy to counterfeit and the Mexican government doesn’t maintain a centralized database or do thorough checks to verify the identity of those they issue the cards to.

Without birth certificates, one woman said she was unable to bring her son back into the U.S. after visiting Mexico, others said they weren’t able to have their children baptized, and still others said they’ll have trouble registering their children for school or getting them signed up for Medicaid.

Judge Pitman said those harms were all real, but said Texas, which is trying to ensure only legitimate applicants can pick up birth certificates, appears to have a valid reason for its policy.

The Mexican government had weighed in against Texas in the case, urging the judge to allow its cards to be accepted.

Mexico’s embassy in Washington says it has upgraded its cards, which now include an electronic chip and other security measures designed to prevent counterfeiting.

The new cards were available as of November, and more than 1 million were issued in the first two month. That accounts for about a quarter of the 4.4 million cards that have been issued in the U.S., the embassy said.

Six states accept the Mexican-issued cards as valid proof for obtaining a driver’s license, and hundreds of banks and more than 1,000 police departments accept it as valid identity for their purposed, the embassy said.

Judge Pitman said the plaintiffs hurt their case by presenting a changing story of the extent of the harms. But he also said he was troubled by reports that some local registrar’s offices appeared to be threatening illegal immigrants with being reported to federal authorities.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/...ficates-to-il/

Thank you Judge Pitman! Thank you very much. But, hey:

Judge Pitman said the plaintiffs hurt their case by presenting a changing story of the extent of the harms. But he also said he was troubled by reports that some local registrar’s offices appeared to be threatening illegal immigrants with being reported to federal authorities.

WHAT?? Why would you as a Judge be "troubled" by public officials reporting illegal aliens to federal authorities??!! These are illegal aliens, in our country in violation of US immigration law, the law you're paid to enforce. All public officials and law enforcement and John and Jane Q Citizens are supposed to report illegal aliens to federal authorities. That's our job, that's how we enforce our laws. Why in the world would that "trouble" you?

You want Americans to see robberies and murders and rapes and schemes and scams and other illegal activity and not report it?? Why would illegal alien crimes be viewed any differently? Do you not remember that the majority of the 9/11 Hijackers were illegal aliens? Yes, here on expired visas. Should someone had they known not reported that? If someone had, they would have been rounded up and deported before they hijacked 4 planes, murdered thousands of people, and did hundreds of billions worth of property damage.

Well, anyway, THANK YOU FOR YOUR RULING, but please do reconsider your statement about being "troubled" by public officials reporting federal crimes to federal authorities.

5/27/15
More info @

Texas officials refuse birth certificates for citizen kids of illegal aliens

WE LOVE YOU TEXAS! Keep up the great work for our country. We will never forget what all you Texans have done and are still doing to save our nation from the travesty of illegal immigration. You will be repaid 1000 times over.

Americans, dump California as a tourist attraction and go see Texas!! It's one of the most wonderful states. The people are so great, the food is terrific, the landscapes amazing, they have seashores on the Gulf, lovely San Antonio, Dallas, Houston, and wide open countryside that just brings peace to the soul. A fantastic place to go when you have the time and money.

Judge: Texas can deny birth certificates for U.S.-born children of immigrants

Texas authorities have been placing significant barriers to immigrants who have entered the country illegally and are seeking birth certificates for their U.S.-born children.

HOUSTON — A federal judge ruled Friday that Texas officials can continue to deny U.S. birth certificates to the children of immigrants who cannot supply required identification because they

entered the country illegally.

Though children born in the United States are entitled by law to U.S. citizenship regardless of the immigration status of their parents, Texas authorities have been placing significant barriers to

immigrants who have entered the country illegally and are seeking birth certificates for their U.S.-born children.

In his ruling denying an emergency order sought by families, Judge Robert Pitman of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas in San Antonio said Texas officials can refuse to accept

“matricula consular” cards, issued by Mexican consulates, as a form of identification to obtain birth certificates for U.S.-born children.

“While the Court is very troubled at the prospect of Texas-born children, and their parents, being denied issuance of a birth certificate,” Pitman wrote, “Texas has a clear interest in protecting access

to that document.”

Although Pitman noted the families’ attorneys had “provided evidence which raises grave concerns regarding the treatment of citizen children born to immigrant parents,” he said the court needed

more evidence before issuing the emergency injunction they had sought.

The case comes at a time birthright citizenship for the children of immigrants, enshrined in the Constitution, has been challenged by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and other conservatives.

Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton praised the ruling as “an important first step in ensuring the integrity of birth certificates and personal identity information.”

“Before issuing any official documents, it’s important for the state to have a way to accurately verify people are who they say they are through reliable identification mechanisms,” he added.

More than two dozen immigrant parents in South Texas sued the state this year on behalf of 32 children they claim had been denied birth certificates and access to vital services.

The lead attorney for the children, Jennifer Harbury of Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, said their families understood the judge’s decision but worry about the safety of their children in the interim.

“Without their birth certificates, they are having difficulty gaining access to basic services, including school and medical care,” Harbury said Friday.

“Texas must allow a clear path for all children born in this country to gain access to birth certificates and their full rights as citizens. It may not establish an obstacle course for these children alone.”

Judge: Texas can deny birth certificates for U.S.-born children of immigrants | The Seattle Times

The lead attorney for the children, Jennifer Harbury of Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, said their families understood the judge’s decision but worry about the safety of their children in the interim.

“Without their birth certificates, they are having difficulty gaining access to basic services, including school and medical care,” Harbury said Friday.

“Texas must allow a clear path for all children born in this country to gain access to birth certificates and their full rights as citizens. It may not establish an obstacle course for these children alone.”

They should go home to their own country where their parents are citizens. Then they will have all the access to education and medicare care they are entitled to there. They are not entitled to any of that here in the United States.

Maybe they'll appeal to a Federal Circuit Court of Appeals. Meanwhile why hasn't ICE arrested the parents at the courthouse and hauled them out of here?

Texas gets a HI-4 in this one!

If Texas won't sell you one this guy will.

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