Texas, facing lawsuit, makes it easier for immigrants’ US-born children to get birth certificates

[jpak]

Source: theintell.com

HOUSTON — Last year, a group of Central American and Mexican immigrant parents sued Texas in federal court, claiming that the state had denied their children birth certificates and access to vital services.

Now, Texas officials have agreed to expand the list of documents that allow immigrant parents who entered the country illegally to obtain birth certificates for their U.S.-born children. The parents’ lawsuit has now been stayed pending enforcement of the new policy during the next nine months.

“It is a victory absolutely for all of the U.S. citizen children who are born here in Texas to undocumented parents. I think they are going to get all their benefits to which they are entitled,” said lead attorney Jennifer Harbury of Texas RioGrande Legal Aid Inc., which represented the children. “We have a great deal of work to do in the transition state. But I think in the end, we’re going to get a better system out of it.”

The 14th Amendment guarantees citizenship for children born on U.S. soil, but Texas authorities added significant barriers in recent years to undocumented immigrants seeking birth certificates for U.S.-born children.

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Read more: http://www.theintell.com/news/national/texas-facing-lawsuit-makes-it-easier-for-immigrants-us-born/article_0d2c1a53-735b-530b-9a79-b8fd6d6fc867.html

[treestar]

1. What absolute jerks

Children, for god's sake!

[Iggo]

5. Children who were born here and are American citizens, for god's sake.

[TexasTowelie]

2. Here is an article that I posted yesterday afternoon:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/107831416

[ecodeathmarch]

3. Someday TX will be blue

Just an aside---I hope I live to see the day that Texas goes blue

[Gothmog]

4. TRCP is part of this litigation

This isxa step in right direction

[muntrv]

6. Read the 14th Amendment, TX govt.

[Igel]

8. They weren't different rules for undocumented vs documented vs citizens.

And documented aliens could get the BCs.

It restricted the kinds of documents required to those that aren't easily available to the undocumented.

For many, voter ID will be a similar kind of problem. How do you prove that you're really Juan Moiseevich Badawi y Tsao if you don't have BC-related ID? Without such ID, voting in some states is hard. Then again, getting a SS card is hard, meaning that filing taxes is difficult, you can't get drivers or state ID. If you become a citizen and can vote, I doubt that the matricula consular will carry over. (That would be cute: Mexico issuing ID for voter registration to Americans of Mexican descent.)

It will mean that if you need a BC and you're native born it'll be easier to get the BC you want. Since a number of fake IDs are based on real, actual birth certificates, that should reduce their cost.

[mountain grammy]

7. This is important. Imagine the judges Trump would appoint..

they'd declare the Constitution unconstitutional.