A federal judge has ruled that immigrant mothers in Texas can not substitute forms of identification when seeking birth certificates for their U.S.-born children.
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Beginning in 2013, Texas refused to accept identification cards issued by the Mexican consulate to citizens living in the United States, as well as foreign passports without visas, to obtain birth certificates for children born in-state.
In his opinion, Pitman said he was “very troubled” by the prospect of Texas-born children being denied a birth certificate.
Judge Pitman said the evidence brought up in the emergency order raised “grave concerns regarding the treatment of citizen children born to immigrant parents”, but further evidence was needed to take action.
The Constitution’s 14th Amendment grants citizenship to all children born in US soil, regardless of whether their parents entered the country illegally or not.
The issue of USA citizenship for children of illegal immigrants has become an issue in the November 2016 presidential campaign with Republican candidate Donald Trump questioning the automatic granting of citizenship and Jeb Bush drawing fire for his comments on the issue.
An eight year-old immigrant watches as a U.S. Border Patrol agent records her family information on July 24, 2014 in Mission, Texas. Rather, they are arguing that the documentation being provided by their parents is not adequate or secure enough to issue the birth certificates for their children.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement that the ruling “is an important first step in ensuring the integrity of birth certificates” and that the agency will continue to defend the health officials.
An attorney for the families tells the the Times that without birth certificates, the children are having trouble getting access to basic services, such as schools and medical care.
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In court, however, state attorneys have argued that the birth certificate being sought by the parents of the 32 children is not a vital document, an argument that Pitman said in his ruling, “begs credulity”. “It may not establish an obstacle course for these children alone”.
