Thread: Texas officials refuse birth certificates for citizen kids of illegal aliens

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

Undocumented immigrant parents refused birth certificates for citizen children, suit alleges

By Aaron Nelsen
May 27, 2015 Updated: May 27, 2015 7:30pm

WESLACO — Immigrant families seeking birth certificates for their children born in the United States have been spurned in recent months by Texas officials who refuse to recognize as valid Mexico consular-issued identification, according to a civil lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Austin.

Attorneys representing six U.S.-born children and their parents allege the Texas Department of State Health Services denied birth certificates to children on the border whose parents lack citizenship or legal status.

“Clearly, the intent here is to deny birth certificates to citizens who are born to mothers who don’t yet have a valid immigration status,” said Jennifer Harbury, an attorney with Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid.

“They are discriminating against the U.S.-born children to punish them for the way the parents entered the country.”

The civil suit filed by the legal aid group and the Texas Civil Rights Project contends that an internal policy of the Texas Department of State Health Services has directed its employees along the border to decline as acceptable an identification card, also known as the Matricula Consular, issued by Mexico through its consulate offices.

The suit asks for a declaratory judgment or an injunction that blocks the state policy.

Attorneys also contend the state is interfering with federal immigration policy.

The state agency Wednesday said its policy to require more than the Matricula Consular to verify identity has been in place since 2008.

“U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and other federal agencies do not recognize (Matricula Consular) as proper identification or consider it to be a reliable form of identification,” said Carrie Williams, spokeswoman for health services agency. “This is largely because the issuing consulate doesn’t verify or authenticate source documents.”

Attorneys for the families say the state never enforced its policy until last year when a surge of pregnant women and unaccompanied children fleeing Central America poured into the Rio Grande Valley.

Soon after, people from Brownsville to El Paso said officials with the Vital Statistics Unit, the state office responsible for issuing birth certificates, began denying the applications of immigrant parents in the country illegally.

It can be difficult for undocumented immigrants in Texas to demonstrate parentage for the purpose of obtaining a birth certificate.

A parent must prove legal status in the country or provide a current voter registration card, which many people do not have.

Without a birth certificate for their children, parents face significant barriers to enroll them in school or give consent for medical care.

A citizen may request their own birth certificate with a driver’s license, or a Social Security card and recent utility bill, for example, but to acquire those documents often calls for a birth certificate.

“This is just the tip of the iceberg,” Harbury said. “There are many more families out there that haven’t gotten birth certificates for their children.”

The lawsuit comes as a panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled this week to keep on hold President Barack Obama’s immigration policies to shield up to 5 million immigrants from deportation and provide them with work permits.

Obama’s immigration plan also includes deportation protections for parents of U.S. citizens and permanent residents, which had been scheduled to begin May 19.

“A birth certificate is necessary to apply” for deportation deferral, said Efrén C. Olivares, an attorney with the South Texas Civil Rights Project. “Without it, a person has no proof that he or she has a U.S. citizen child and cannot apply.”

Texas is the lead state among 26 that sued to stop Obama’s expansion of immigration policies and has won a temporary injunction to block them.

http://www.expressnews.com/news/loca...th-6290512.php

her baby in my book i still not citizen she know just what she is doing .i for one say no usa citizenship for any one of them

Without a birth certificate for their children, parents face significant barriers to enroll them in school or give consent for medical care.

Yep, and without the birth certificate they "face significant barriers" to food stamps, WIC, medicaid, aid for dependent children, etc., etc.! This isn't about school or medical care because the law requires those things to be provided, even for illegal alien children. Let's be honest, this is about getting the goodies!

GO TEXAS!! Wow! GO! GO! GO! Every state should adopt this policy and make it law in their states. Every state that joined the Texas lawsuit for example should post haste adopt what Texas is doing!

Governor Abbott, I'm sure you're responsible for this, and oh my oh my oh my, do we ever thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!

NO BIRTH CERTIFICATES FOR ILLEGAL ALIENS!!

This is a STATES RIGHTS issue! USE IT!

Lawsuit: U.S. Citizen Children Denied Birth Certificates in Texas

by JUAN CASTILLO

AUSTIN, Texas -- A lawsuit contends the state of Texas is routinely discriminating against the U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrant parents by denying them birth certificates.

According to the civil lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Austin, the Texas Department of State Health Services has denied birth certificates to U.S. citizen children on the border whose parents lack citizenship or legal status.

In doing so, the state is punishing the children for the way their parents entered the country, Jennifer Harbury, an attorney with Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid, told NBC News. The legal aid group and the Texas Civil Rights Project are representing six U.S.-born children and their Mexican citizen mothers in the lawsuit.

"It's not up to the state to decide on immigration policy. This is a federal issue," Harbury told NBC. "The state of Texas has to accommodate these women. They can't disenfranchise them."

The lawsuit asks the court to declare the state's practice unconstitutional.

A spokeswoman for the state health services agency said federal agencies do not recognize a Mexican consular-issued ID known as the matricula consular because Mexican consulates don't verify or authenticate source documents, the San Antonio Express-News reported. Carrie Williams said the state's policy to require more than the matricula consular to verify identify has been in place since 2008.

But Harbury said the state did not begin enforcing its policy until late last year. That was about the same time a surge of pregnant women and unaccompanied children fleeing Central America poured into the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas, near the Mexican border, the Express-News reported.

Without a birth certificate for their children, parents face considerable difficulties or barriers to enroll them in school, give consent for their medical care or receive other services U.S. citizens are eligible to receive.

"It is number one, the cornerstone proof of the parent-child relationship and the cornerstone official proof that the child was born here," Harbury said. "They shouldn't have to spend months trying to scramble for medical care, school enrollment and educational projects. They need to get their benefits as U.S. citizens."

Harbury said that until last fall, mothers were able to obtain birth certificates for their children with either or both a matricular consular or a passport. Only recently, she said, has the matricula been denied, and the state has asked instead for a foreign passport but only it if contains a valid U.S. visa.

"The very obvious accommodation is to accept the passport," Harbury said. "If they won't take it without a visa, clearly the intent is to discriminate against the women."

The U.S. House recently held a hearing on questioning the constitutional guarantee of citizenship to all children born in the U.S. and whether that should continue. Two Republicans, Rep. Steve King of Iowa and Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana have filed bills to repeal it, although neither has moved forward.

The Texas lawsuit says scores of women from Mexico and Central America have been denied birth certificates for their children.

It cites the case of one of the plaintiffs, Maria Isabel Perales Serna, a Mexican citizen who as a young adult fled to Texas to escape an abusive husband. According to the lawsuit, Perales gave birth in Texas to a daughter, now 14. To obtain the birth certificate for the child, Perales merely presented her matricula issued by the Mexican consulate.

In November, 2014, after giving birth in a McAllen, Texas hospital, Perales took her matricula and Mexican passport to the state Vital Statistics office. Both were rejected. According to the lawsuit, the state said it could accept another form of identification, a current Mexican-issued voter registration card, which Perales did not have.

She can only obtain one by returning to Mexico at great risk to her safety, the lawsuit says.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/s...ildren-n366111

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Ordering Birth Certificates Online

For fast, affordable service, order Texas birth certificates through Texas.gov, the official eGoverment site for the State of Texas.

The current estimated processing time for Texas.gov orders is 10–15 business days.Births within the past 75 years are considered protected records.

Texas residents can only order:

• their own birth records; or
• the birth records of immediate family members. See Section 181.1(13) of the Texas Administrative Code for what qualifies as an immediate family member.

Non-Texas residents can only order:

• their own records; or
• the records of their children if they are listed as a parent on the record.

Go to Texas.gov

Can't order online? Order by Mail.

Last updated February 11, 2015

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• Texas Vital Statistics >
• Request Certificates >
• Ordering Birth Certificates by Mail

Ordering Birth Certificates by Mail

1. Obtain and complete an application for a certified copy of a birth certirficate.Copies of birth certificates for births that occurred within the past 75 years can be requested only by the immediate family of the person whose name is on the birth certificate.

See Section 181.1(13) of the Texas Administrative Code for what qualifies as an immediate family member. Applicants who are not immediate family members must provide legal documentation (such as a court order establishing guardianship) that demonstrates a direct, tangible interest in the birth certificate.

2. Send the completed application and payment using one of the methods listed in the table below.The applicant must include a photocopy of his or her valid photo ID issued by a governmental entity.

See Section 181.28 of the the Texas Administrative Code for a complete list of acceptable forms of identification.Applications for birth certificates cannot be processed without a photo ID or alternate IDs and the signature of the applicant.

Order methods	Instructions	Cost	Payment methods	Estimated processing time
In person	Visit our office: 1100 W. 49th St. Austin, TX 78756 Monday–Friday 8 am–5 pm	$22–Certified copy $60–Heirloom	Cash Check Credit/Debit Card+ Money order	5–30 minutes Note: Some applications may require 24 hours or more to process.
Expedited Service	Application–pdf(28K) Orders must be sent to the Texas Department of State Health Services—Vital Statistics Unit via an overnight mail service, such as: Fedex Lonestar UPS Do not send via USPS Priority Mail.	$22–Certified copy $60–Heirloom + $5 expedited processing fee + $8 return delivery for Lonestar (within Texas) or Fedex (outside of Texas) or $19.95 for P.O. Box and express mail (optional)*	Check Money order	10–15 business days Note: Incomplete or unacceptable applications will require additional processing time.
U.S. Postal Service	Application–pdf(28K)	$22–Certified copy $60–Heirloom + $8 return delivery for Lonestar (within Texas) or Fedex (outside of Texas) or $19.95 for P.O. Box and express mail (optional)*	Check Money order	6–8 weeks

*Additional carrier rates for Saturday and international shipping will apply.
+Credit cards will require a $2.25 processing fee.


Last updated February 11, 2015

Contact Us | Visitor Information | Site Map | Search | Topics A-Z | Compact with Texans | File Viewing InformationInternet Policy | HHS Agencies | Homeland Security | Statewide Search | Texas.gov | Privacy Practices

Originally Posted by MW

Let's be honest, this is about getting the goodies!

Well, the first rule of political analysis is, Follow the money.

And the blame for this outrage falls squarely on 'Bamacrats and the Repub leadership. For different reasons, both are selling out the American people.
************************************
Americans first in this magnificent country

American jobs for American workers

Fair trade, not free trade

Texas Denies American-Born Children Of Immigrants Citizenship

"Even in the darkest hours of Texas’ history of discrimination, officials never denied birth certificates to Hispanic children of immigrants.”


By The Texas Observer | July 15, 2015

For nearly 150 years, the United States, under the 14th Amendment, has recognized people born here as citizens, regardless of whether their parents were citizens.


But Texas has other plans. In the last year, the state has refused to issue birth certificates to children who were born in Texas to undocumented parents. In May, four women filed a civil rights lawsuit against the Texas Department of State Health Services alleging constitutional discrimination and interference in the federal government’s authority over immigration.


Jennifer Harbury, a lawyer with Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, who is representing the women, said the deluge of birth certificate refusals began last winter. “I’ve never seen such a large number of women with this problem,” she says. “In the past someone might be turned away, but it was always resolved. This is something altogether new.”


According to the lawsuit, the women who requested birth certificates for their children at the state’s vital statistics offices in Cameron and Hidalgo counties were turned away because of insufficient proof of their identities. State law allows the use of a foreign ID if the mother lacks a Texas driver’s license or a U.S. passport.


But employees at the offices, which are run by the Texas Department of State Health Services, told the women they would no longer accept either the matricula consular, which is a photo ID issued by the Mexican Consulate to Mexican nationals living in the U.S., or a foreign passport without a current U.S. visa. Undocumented Central American women are also being turned away because they only have a passport without a U.S. visa. “They are locking out a huge chunk of the undocumented immigrant community,” says Harbury.

http://www.mintpressnews.com/texas-d...enship/207600/

There's a copy of the lawsuit at the link.

Children of Immigrants Denied Citizenship


by Melissa del Bosque Published on Monday, July 13, 2015, at 2:08 CST

For nearly 150 years, the United States, under the 14th Amendment, has recognized people born here as citizens, regardless of whether their parents were citizens.


But Texas has other plans. In the last year, the state has refused to issue birth certificates to children who were born in Texas to undocumented parents. In May, four women filed a civil rights lawsuit against the Texas Department of State Health Services alleging constitutional discrimination and interference in the federal government’s authority over immigration.


Jennifer Harbury, a lawyer with Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, who is representing the women, said the deluge of birth certificate refusals began last winter. “I’ve never seen such a large number of women with this problem,” she says. “In the past someone might be turned away, but it was always resolved. This is something altogether new.”


According to the lawsuit, the women who requested birth certificates for their children at the state’s vital statistics offices in Cameron and Hidalgo counties were turned away because of insufficient proof of their identities. State law allows the use of a foreign ID if the mother lacks a Texas driver’s license or a U.S. passport.


But employees at the offices, which are run by the Texas Department of State Health Services, told the women they would no longer accept either the matricula consular, which is a photo ID issued by the Mexican Consulate to Mexican nationals living in the U.S., or a foreign passport without a current U.S. visa. Undocumented Central American women are also being turned away because they only have a passport without a U.S. visa. “They are locking out a huge chunk of the undocumented immigrant community,” says Harbury.


“Even in the darkest hours of Texas’ history of discrimination, officials never denied birth certificates to Hispanic children of immigrants.”


Harbury believes the rash of refusals is linked to the influx of Central American families who crossed the border last summer seeking asylum. “They are targeting the undocumented population, but immigration is a federal function and not the job of the Department of State Health Services,” says Harbury. Women are unable to enroll their children in school or daycare without a birth certificate, or to authorize their child to be treated in a medical emergency. “It causes all kinds of problems,” Harbury says. “How is a woman going to prove she’s the child’s parent without a birth certificate?”


Since filing the lawsuit in late May, Harbury says they’ve received dozens of calls from women who have been refused birth certificates for their children: “The phones have been ringing off the hook.” Recently, they filed an amended lawsuit with several more plaintiffs.


James Harrington, an attorney with the Texas Civil Rights Project, is also representing the undocumented families. The legal team is seeking a court order to reinstate the use of the matricula consular and foreign passports as valid proof of identity for undocumented mothers.


“Even in the darkest hours of Texas’ history of discrimination, officials never denied birth certificates to Hispanic children of immigrants,” said Harrington in a written statement. “Everyone born in the United States is entitled to the full rights of citizenship.”


http://www.texasobserver.org/childre...d-citizenship/

Originally Posted by Mayday

. . . Children of Immigrants Denied Citizenship . . .

Texas can not and did not deny citizenship.

Citizenship is granted, denied or revoked by the Federal Government.

Texas can and did deny BIRTH CERTIFICATES.