Immigrant parents sue Texas over US-born children鈥檚 birth certificates
Immigrant parents living in Texas are suing the state for what they say is the unlawful denial of birth certificates for their US-born children.
The , filed in June by a group of parents from Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala, claims that officials with the Texas Department of State Health Services withheld the birth certificates of 23 American-born children because the parents could not provide the kind of photo identification required under state law.
The case, representing yet another point of contention in the bitter nationwide debate around immigration reform, pits the concept of birthright citizenship against the Lone Star State's strict ID laws.
The assures the right of citizenship to anyone born on US soil, regardless of the parents鈥� immigration status.聽
But , which immigrant advocates say has been enforced with greater vigor in the last two years, allows for some local registrars to decide whether or not a or "matriculas鈥� 鈥� an ID card issued by local consulates of Latin American nations 鈥� are a valid form of identification.
State officials have said they never regarded matriculas as a secure form of identification, because 鈥渢he issuer doesn鈥檛 verify data or documents that go into them,鈥� Chris Van Deussen, press officer for the Texas Department of State Health Services, Fox News.
鈥淭exas has never accepted the consular ID鈥檚,鈥� though 鈥淚 cannot say that every [local] registrar rejected them,鈥� Mr. Van Deussen said.
The policy is meant is to protect citizens鈥� identities and personal data, he .
鈥淸W]e certainly want people to be able to get the documents that they鈥檙e entitled to,鈥� he said. 鈥淗owever, we also have a duty to protect the personal information that鈥檚 on the birth certificate.鈥�
That鈥檚 a valid argument, says Kathleen Campbell Walker, an immigration attorney at Dykema Cox Smith in El Paso, Texas, and former president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association based in Washington, DC.
But if that is indeed the state鈥檚 defense, Ms. Walker says in a phone interview, then the government will also need to address other forms of identification it does recognize under its administrative code, some of which 鈥� such as a medical insurance card 鈥� are hardly secure.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 just decide willy-nilly what鈥檚 required,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hey can protect the security of their process 鈥� but there is a failure to be consistent and to provide clear guidance.鈥�
As of 2012, the United States had an estimated 11.2 million unauthorized immigrants living within its borders, according to聽聽from 2014. California had the largest undocumented immigrant population, with 2.4 million people, while Texas ranked second with 1.7 million.
The lawsuit, filed聽in US District Court in Austin,聽claims that the state鈥檚 withholding of birth certificates causes 鈥渟erious harm鈥� to immigrant parents and their children.
鈥淏y denying the Plaintiff children their birth certificates, Defendants have created a category of second-class citizens, disadvantaged from childhood on with respect to health and educational opportunities,鈥� the lawsuit reads. 鈥淒efendants are acting beyond the scope of their authority in denying birth certificates on the basis of the parents鈥� immigration status.鈥�
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton鈥檚 office has asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit, saying that the Department of State Health Services has sovereign immunity under the 11th Amendment and cannot be sued in federal court, .
Texas鈥� crackdown on consular ID鈥檚 followed an increase in the number of Central American children born in the state, Fox reported. About 55,000 families poured across the US-Mexico border in 2014, and about three-quarters of them settled in Texas.
Some advocates say the tougher identification measures are part of a larger pushback against President Obama鈥檚 2012 executive action on illegal immigration, which would protect millions of parents of American children from deportation.聽
"As immigration became more controversial, they just started clamping down," lead attorney Jennifer Harbury of Texas RioGrande Legal Aid,聽. Once immigration became an issue they just closed the door, and now it's locked and bolted.鈥�
Walker, who has practiced immigration law for 30 years, said she is disappointed by the Texas government's actions.聽
"Indeed, it seems focused on trying to prevent undocumented immigrants from trying to obtain birth certificates for their children," who, regardless of their parents' status, are legal citizens of the United States, she said.聽"It's an example of our lack of understanding and lack of compassion."
