For some Texans, birth certificates aren't enough to prove U.S. citizenship

USA TODAY - Online - On Deadline - 8/11/08

The State Department is forcing people who were delivered by midwives in south Texas to come up with more than a birth certificate to prove that they're eligible for a U.S. passport, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The crackdown, which is said to involve births dating back to the 1930s, grew out of a series of cases in which midwives were convicted of falsifying U.S. birth certificates for 15,000 Mexican children.

"As a result, the U.S. government no longer trusts that anyone in this region delivered by a midwife is an American citizen. In those cases, the government demands additional proof -- a demand that has applicants scouring school warehouses and church offices to document their pasts," the paper says. "That has caused a panic in south Texas, where locals need a valid passport more than ever. A new law that goes into effect next year requires Americans to use a passport, rather than just a birth certificate or driver's license, to visit Mexico and Canada. The situation threatens to isolate thousands of people in the Rio Grande Valley who regularly travel back and forth to Mexico for work or family reasons."

Posted by Mike Carney at 09:12 AM/ET, August 11, 2008 in immigration |

http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/20 ... exans.html