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

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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• Home >
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• 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