Passport Workshop for American-Born Kids Saturday

Updated: Friday, 06 Aug 2010, 7:06 PM MDT
Published : Friday, 06 Aug 2010, 7:06 PM MDT

PHOENIX - Thousands of people are expected to show up tomorrow at St. Matthew's Catholic Church, seeking passports to protect their American-born children.

The parents may not be legal immigrants, but they want to be sure nobody questions the citizenship of their children in case something were to happen.

The passport workshop is sponsored by the League of United Latin American Citizens, or LULAC. Children born in America, with U.S. birth certificates, are citizens. But these parents want additional assurance their kids' rights will be protected -- and that means getting a U.S. passport.

The operation is designed to help kids born in America get U.S. passports to protect them if their parents have to leave the country.

"They can come back to the United States to go to school, to visit aunts and uncles, they have proper documentation, what they would need to do that."

It aims to give parents without papers some peace of mind.

"She is 3 years old, if anything happens… with a passport I can get her out of here, take her with me. If you get her without it you don't know what is going to happen," says one undocumented mother.

The U.S. Passport workshop will be at St. Matthew's Church at 20th Ave and West Van Buren, Saturday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpp/news/lo ... y-8-6-2010